Futari wa PreCure Flash Fire
by IcySapphire
Summary: Join Homura Boukeno and Yuki Hanshou, two unlikely friends who are quite different from each other, as they help two pegasi from another world collect eight Rainbow Notes whose song can drive away the evil threatening both their world and Earth.
1. Episode 1

Episode 1: Our unexpected power! A magical adventure begins

The morning sun shines down on the crosswalk in front of the school building, making the letters on the signpost by the gate reflect gold light onto the deep red uniforms of the students coming onto campus. While most of the students prefer to walk onto campus, one particular brown haired girl stands out: she is expertly weaving through the crowd of people, with her deep red Rollerblades whirring on the pavement over the din of early morning chatter.

Suddenly, a familiar female voice calls to her. "Homura-san, this way!" She swerves off towards the left sidewalk, where a girl with sandy blond hair and a boy with black hair are waiting expectantly.

"Keiko, Aiden, hi!" Homura smiles to her friends as she carefully slows her speed to match walking speed. "How are you guys today?"

"I'm doing just fine, thanks." Keiko replies.

"Wanted to watch 'Blading Today' on TV last night, but my younger sisters had claimed the TV to watch "Pinky Pegasi". Aiden sighs. "On top of that, Pinky's getting her own DS game..."

"..and knowing my sister Hikari, she'll drive me up the wall bugging me to buy it." Homura sighs in agreement.

"Is our date at the skate park still on?" Keiko interjects, changing the subject. "I've been eager to try out the huge ski jump..."

"Yes, yes, of course it is!" Homura assures her friend. "Meet by the gate with your stuff when class lets out!" Their plans made, the three friends join the rest of the students that are filing inside the school building. As Homura races past the arts complex, we hear the notes of an acoustic guitar coming from one window.

The performer is a girl with sandy blonde hair tied back in a ponytail clad in the same deep red and white uniform as the other students at Teishoku Academy. A girl with deep blue hair stands by the chalkboard, listening to the Irish tune intently. When the blonde haired girl finishes her song, the deep blue haired girl applauds. "That was beautiful, Yuki-san."

"Thank you, Kae-sempai...my father sent me the sheet music in an an e-mail last night." the blonde haired girl replies as she puts her instrument away. "I found it a beautiful melody, so I want to play it in public soon."

"Speaking of your father, how's filming on his new movie going?" the deep blue haired girl, Kaede, asks as she makes her way to her locker.

"He arrived in Ireland a few days ago, but the weather over there hasn't cooperated, so filming is slow for now." Yuki replies. "He sent me that song to assure me he was well."

"What's your dad doing all the way in Ireland?" a girl asks Yuki.

"He is a movie director, and he's over there to shoot some scenes for his latest movie." Yuki replies.

"Your dad makes movies?" A red haired girl dashes over, stars in her eyes. "What's this movie about?"

"I'm sorry, Akane, but I promised my father I would not tell anyone about it until he says it is safe to do so." Yuki smiles as she puts her guitar away in her locker and retrieves some books.

"Aw, come on, I live for movie news!" Akane protests. "Not even one piece of the plot?"

"Not even one word of the plot." Yuki admonishes. "I intend to keep my promise."

Akane is about to continue begging Yuki for spoilers when Kaede steps before her. "Keep pestering Yuki and she won't even tell you even when it's okay for her to tell." Akane's eyes grow wide when she realizes "Kae-sempai", as everyone calls Kaede, is before her--and when Kaede says you shouldn't do something, you'd better not do it. The whole school, Homura, Keiko, and Aiden included; waits to see what Akane will do next.

"Okay, okay, I'll wait." Akane sulks. "But when you get the all clear to tell, tell me first!" With that, she walks off down the hall, and everyone returns to their pre-class routines.

Aiden smirks. "Talk about a drama queen..."

"It's only fitting that Akane be president of the Drama Club." Keiko agrees as she grabs her books from her locker.

Homura, meanwhile, happens to see Yuki a few lockers over and smiles. _She looks like a nice girl...maybe I should get to know her sometime._ Yuki sees Homura smile and smiles back in response.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

The scene shifts to a dark and forboding world filled with swirling black, red, and purple energy. Even the walkways and furniture in this room radiate with an odd purple glow. A young red haired lady appearing to be in her early 20s is seated on a large black chair that looks almost like a throne, looking out at the sparse amount of pathways, houses and beings in this swirling mass of evil. What beings there are look like random soundwaves that either scream or make staticy noises as they go about their lives, if you can call their existance that.

After a few tense minutes, the girl calls a single name into the void. "Yende?"

A boy with lavender hair appearing to be in his late teens appears at the "room"'s entrance. "Yes, Lady Dischord?"

"Have you found anything about the Rainbow Notes of Life?" the girl asks, getting up from the ornate chair to observe a screen that materialises from two branch-like spires standing on a nearby table. Onscreen, an image of eight gems that look like eighth notes appears.

Yende's expression turns frustrated. "Not a thing since my last report, but let me recap what we do know: before we could attack, the two winged horses that guarded them took them and fled to the world connected to the Crystal Plains--the Green Plains." At this, the screen displays two small pegasi--one red, one light blue. "But as the Green Plains is a vast world, the whereabouts of the winged horses and the Rainbow Notes is unknown. Bruyant says that all together, the Rainbow Notes sing a melody the beings on the Green Plains only know from a game, but on the Crystal Plains, the same melody has the power to drive evil away--and a melody we cannot hear if we are to survive."

A young female voice interuppts the discussion: "Can I please go look for the winged horses? Pretty please?" Yende and Lady Dischord whirl around to see a young deep red haired girl around twelve or thirteen years old standing in the doorway.

Yende sighs. "Ruida, be patient...Her Ladyship and I are in the middle of an important discussion." Ruida sighs and goes to sit down on a couch nearby the table as Yende continues. "As for the winged horses--they may have taken an alternate form to protect themselves in this world. Having said that, we could flush them out if we knew what form they took."

"Didn't Bruyant and Lautia say something about the winged horses having two guardians themselves?" Ruida interjects. "I bet if we find their guardians, they will be there too!"

Yende smiles--the first time he's smiled since he arrived to speak with his mistress. "You may be right, Ruida..."

"If you wish, you may travel to the Green Plains and find these guardians." Lady Dischord begins. "But be warned, the power of light is not one to be taken lightly!" Ruida nods, takes an egg-like object from a box on the table, and departs.

[Episode title: Our unexpected power! A magical adventure begins!]

The whir of wheels and laughter fill the air as Homura and her friends race and jump through the skate park later that day. Aiden is practicing jumps from a halfpipe, while Homura and Keiko are weaving through the many slopes and jumps on the course.

After a few minutes, the three friends remove their skates long enough to walk to the largest jump on the course, a large sloping jump that leads to another ramp if the leap is made with no mishaps. "Here it is..." Homura begins as she laces up her Rollerblades again. "The giant ski jump."

"Whoever can make the longest jump and still land on the far ramp wins this." Aiden waves a coupon before the girls. "Free pizza for all of us."

"You're on!" With that, Keiko whizzes away, off to the ski jump's approach ramp. She races downward and into the air seconds later, easily sticking a landing on the far ramp after pulling off a few twists while airborne.

"Very nice!" Homura comments as Keiko returns.

"110 feet and a few front twists, not bad." Aiden reports. "Top that, Homura."

"Here goes!" and Homura speeds up the large approach ramp, makes a sweeping left turn, and streaks down the large slope, rotating four times while airborne before sticking the landing on the far ramp.

"A 900!" Keiko gasps.

"I've never seen Homura do that trick without falling!" Aiden agrees as Homura returns.

"My first clean 900--is that worthy enough for that free pizza coupon?" Homura asks.

"I'd say so!" Keiko smiles as Aiden gives the coupon to Homura. "Want to jump again!"

"Yeah!" and Homura whizzes back up the approach ramp again.

Yuki, meanwhile, is walking home when she passes by the skate park and sees Homura and Keiko jumping off the ski jump. _How beautiful! _she smiles at the twisting shapes flying through the air. _I imagine that takes a lot of courage and practice..._

_Later that day..._

"I'm home!" Homura calls.

"Nee-san!" A younger girl rushes into the room and thrusts herself in Homura's arms.

"Hi, Hikari..." Homura smiles. "How was your day?"

"Fun!" Hikari smiles. "I left you a surprise in your room!"

"A surprise?" Homura is piqued as she puts her Rollerblades away. "What is it?"

"Can't tell you, or it wouldn't be a surprise any more!" Hikari smugly replies.

Homura sighs and troops upstairs to her room, where she spots a red Nintendo DS on the bed. Her eyes widen and she smiles when she sees the small console. "All right! Thanks!" she smiles.

"You can play it until dinner." Hikari smiles before turning to leave.

Homura closes the door, walks to her desk, and fishes a DS stylus from the pencil case by some old skating magazines. "I wonder what game Hikari got to go with it..." she muses as she opens the console and flicks it on.

She looks out the window at the sunset and thinks hard as she sets up her new console. "It would be so cool if a pegasus came and took me away on an exciting adventure, away from all the homework and tests..." she sighs as a shooting star flies past. Suddenly, a red light streaks inside the room and lands in the DS, knocking it out of Homura's hands!

After gingerly retrieving the DS from under the bed, Homura looks at it quizzically. "What was that?"

She opens it and flicks it back on, only to see a red pegasus looking back at her from the top screen. "Hello-hino!" he smiles.

"Gah!" Homura is surprised, and nearly drops the DS again. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"My name is Hinote, and I come with a very urgent request for you." the red pegasus explains. "You may not believe me, but please--hear me out."

"Okay--Hinote..." Homura is still unsure about whether or not this is part of a video game or actually happening. "What can I do for you?

"You may not realize it, but your world, the Green Plains, is connected to the world I come from, the Crystal Plains." Hinote explains. "Many things that beings on the Green Plains consider 'fantasy' are very real there-hino."

"Really?" Homura is excited and skeptical at the same time.

Hinote nods. "On the Crystal Plains, a popular game is finding crystalized forms of melodies, which are called Note Gems. They look like this-hino." At this, an image of a orange eighth note seemingly made of crystal appears on the touch screen. Homura pokes it with her stylus, making it sing a single D note. "Although Note Gems come in many colors, it is rare to have a set follow the exact order of the colors of the rainbow-hino. Melodies from sets like this are considered magical-hino."

"Sets of melodies?" Homura is beginning to believe there's a grain of truth to Hinote's story as outlandish as it sounds. "The only set of melodies I know are eight melodies from 'Mother', Hikari's favorite Famicom game..."

"My sister Kouri and I protected a set of eight Rainbow Notes!" Hinote cries, excited. "How did this set of melodies you speak of go? Could they be the same ones of the Rainbow Notes-hino?"

"I'm not the best singer, but I'll try to sing them..." Homura clears her throat and begins _Take a melody, simple as can be, give it some words and--_

"Yes! Yes! That's the song!" Hinote smiles, stopping Homura mid-song.

"So what would anyone want with eight gems that sing?" Homura asks.

"The Crystal Plains and the Green Plains are both under attack by the Black Realm--evil beings that want to corrupt both worlds with noise and claim them as their own-hino!" Hinote explains. "And to drive them away, Kouri and I need to awaken the two fighters that protected us--PreCure."

"PreCure?" Homura is confused.

Before Hinote can explain any more, the click of the doorknob startles him, making him disappear from the screens and shutting the DS off. Hikari peeks in the room. "Homura, telephone!"

"Who is it?" Homura asks, pocketing the DS as she comes downstairs.

"It's Keiko--she says she needs to talk to you." Hikari explains before giving the phone to Homura.

"Hello?" Homura begins.

"Homura, if you're going out tonight, be careful--there's an evil trash can by the skate park." Keiko begins. "Aiden managed to catch some video of it with his phone before it tried to attack him. He got away before he got hurt, thankfully."

"Sounds farfetched, but if Aiden has evidence, it's likely real." Homura replies. "Okay if I come by his place to take a look?"

"Sure--and hurry if you can!" Keiko replies.

"See ya!" Homura hangs up and starts to the closet to get her Rollerblades out. "Mom, I'm going to Aiden's place for a few minutes..."

"All right, but be careful if you go by the skate park--the news just reported there's an odd creature attacking people in that area." Homura gasps at the TV in disbelief as she suits up--maybe the little red pegasus inside her new DS is telling the truth.

[CM break]

Homura whizzes down the street, but is suddenly surprised as the little red pegasus appears by her side. "Whoa...guess you aren't just an image on a screen!"

"Kouri! I need to find Kouri!" Hinote wheezes as he tries to match Homura's speed. "I have a bad feeling that creature your friend told you about is an agent of the Black Realm!"

"Okay, what does Kouri look like?" Homura starts, but is surprised when she sees Yuki approaching from the opposite direction, a small light blue pegasus by her side. _That girl from this morning!_

Hinote is relieved to find the light blue pegasus. "Kouri!"

"Oh, Hinote...you're safe!" the light blue pegasus smiles. The two pegasi meet in mid air and hug. The touching reunion is cut short as what looks like a trash can with sickly yellow eyes and spindly arms and legs comes crashing through a forested path.

"What IS that?" Homura gasps.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look friendly!" Yuki yelps. She motions for Homura, Hinote, and Kouri to follow her.

"Urusainaa!" the odd monster roars as it tries to chase the fleeing group, but gets whacked by a lamp post. This buys the group time to escape to an abandoned parking lot.

"Did we lose it?" Homura asks.

"Looks like we did, but we don't have much time!" Hinote explains as he circles around Homura, depositing some odd game card-like cards in Homura's bag. Kouri does the same for Yuki, seconds before the monster comes crashing into the parking lot.

"Now what do we do?" Yuki gasps.

"Find the music note game card we gave you, and put it in the DS-kori!" Kouri replies.

"This one?" Homura asks, showing Hinote a game card with a picture of a crystal music note on it.

"Yes...hurry-hino!" Hinote pleads.

"If you two want to live..." Ruida appears beside the trash-can monster. "tell me where the Rainbow Notes are!"

"Never!" Homura growls.

"We're going to help these two little pegasi!" Yuki agrees.

Homura gasps. "Did I really just say that?"

Ruida smirks. "Very well then--do to them as you will, Urusainaa." With that, she disappears, leaving the group alone to face the monster.

Homura and Yuki look at each other and nod before jamming the music note game cards in their DSes, making Homura's glow red and Yuki's blue. The two of them then join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!"

Homura only has time to say "What did I just say?" before a wave of flames and ice consumes her and Yuki, also blinding the Urusainaa in the process.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura confidently challenges the monster. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees.

"We are PreCure!" both call. The Urusainaa decides to throw plastic forks at our heroines, but they jump away before the millions of forks can hit. Ember kicks the Urusainaa in the middle, while Glacier fends off living paper wads with a shield made of ice. The Urusianaa then tries to send living soda cans at our heroines, but Glacier freezes each one with a kick, making them explode and spray soda everywhere. With every living piece of trash destroyed, the Urusainaa grows weaker and weaker.

Ember and Glacier meet back in the middle of the parking lot, facing the Urusainaa.

"Now's your chance-hino!" Hinote calls.

"Hurry and finish it off before it causes more trouble-kori!" Kouri agrees.

Ember and Glacier nod.

"Fire of a beat eternal..." Ember says as she charges a fireball.

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal trash can. At the same time, the mess is cleaned, and the girls return to normal.

"Wow...I did all that?" Homura is impressed at what she has just done.

"Yes--the power of PreCure inside you both is strong!" Hinote smiles.

Homura turns to Yuki. "I guess we didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves before--I'm Homura..."

"My name's Yuki." Yuki replies. "Nice to meet you."

"Take care, Yuki--see you soon!" Homura smiles as she skates away. Yuki waves goodbye and starts back to her house. Both are unaware that their adventure is only beginning.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]


	2. Episode 2

The scene opens on Homura in her room, glumly watching it rain outside. "It's been a few days since a little red pegasus came to live in my DS..." she narrates via voiceover as we see the scene of Hinote flying into Homura's DS again. "He told me that the world he came from was protected by eight Rainbow Notes, and all together, their song would drive away the evil force he claimed was threatening his world and mine." We see scenes of Ruida and the Urusainaa again. "To make things even crazier, one of my schoolmates had received this pegasus' sister, and together, we became their guardians, PreCure." We see scenes of Hinote and Kouri's reunion and Homura and Yuki's transformation. "On the bright side, I have gotten to know Yuki a little, but I still don't understand all this yet. Something tells me that that monster and our superpowers were no dream, especially after I saw Aiden's video evidence..."

"Hey, Homura!" Hinote interrupts, startling Homura. "I'm hungry-hino!"

"Remind me again what you like to eat?" Homura sighs as she starts to the door--deep down, she wishes she could just have a special game card to feed Hinote in one step.

"That sweet grain with the white stuff you have!" Hinote smiles.

It takes a minute for Hinote's request to register, but once Homura realizes that Hinote wants the frosted wheat cereal Hikari likes, she smiles. "Just wait there, I'll be back with some breakfast." With that, she heads downstairs to the kitchen, all the while praying Hikari won't see her taking the cereal as she removes it from the cabinet over the sink.

"Gee, nee-san, I didn't know you liked my cereal too!" Hikari smiles, catching Homura off guard. Homura has to think quickly--she can't let Hikari know about Hinote.

Fortunately, Homura has a legitimate excuse. "We're out of my cereal, so is it okay if I have some of yours?" Sure enough, there's an empty box of Honey Nut Rings--Homura's favorite cereal--in the trash to lend credibility to her ruse.

Thankfully, Hikari buys the ruse. "Okay, but save me some!"

"Thank you." Homura smiles as she pours a small bowl, relieved that she's dodged one hurdle of keeping Hinote a secret.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire version)]

In the Black Realm, Ruida appears before Lady Dischord. "I found the winged horses, but it appears they have their own guardians..."

"Guardians?" Lady Dischord is interested. "What kind of guardians?"

"According to my research..." a brown haired boy clad in a vest-like outfit and slacks begins as he enters the room. "The winged horses that guarded the Rainbow Notes of Life are protected by two soldiers that are only known as PreCure. Our allies have encountered similar pairs like them, although a group of PreCure with more then two awakened ones is not uncommon." Clips from Max Heart, Splash Star, Yes! PreCure 5, and Fresh PreCure flash on the screen to illustrate Bruyant's point.

Lady Dischord isn't sure what to think. "If this...PreCure...is indeed the manifestation of the power of light..."

"I know they exist! They destroyed the Urusainaa I picked!" Ruida pleads.

"Her Ladyship is merely requesting that you try and get these PreCure, whatever they are, to appear again--one encounter with them isn't enough to convince her they're out there." Yende assures Ruida.

"Fine...I'll try again to find the winged horses and see if they appear..." Ruida sighs as she turns to leave.

At Yuki's house, an acoustic guitar melody drifts from a garden nearby a house. A closer look reveals Yuki is the one playing the song. Kouri hovers nearby the loveseat, listening to the song and admiring the flowers that appear to stretch for miles. When Yuki finishes, Kouri smiles. "That was lovely-kori!"

"Thank you--I've been playing since I was little." Yuki smiles as she tunes a little.

"If we were on the Crystal Plains, I'm sure that melody would become a set of Note Gems-kori." Kouri smiles.

"Speaking of which, how are you going to carry the Rainbow Notes we find back home to your world?" Yuki asks as she sets her instrument aside and offers Kouri a carrot.

"My brother Hinote has the book that keeps them safe-kori--the Score of Colors." Kouri explains. "I do hope the girl that found him is taking good care of him."

[Episode title-"Homura's challenge! Trouble at the game center!"]

Homura sighs as she retrieves her books from her locker--it's Friday, she's looking foward to the weekend, and in her eyes, she would rather be blading somewhere than doing algebra this early in the morning.

Keiko and Aiden are discussing plans for the weekend. "I wish I could go to the game center with you, Aiden, but my family wants me to go camping with them." Keiko begins.

"That'll be fun!" Aiden smiles.

"With my brothers, camping is anything but." Keiko groans as she gets her science book from her locker.

"Boukeno-san?" a voice calls.

Homura whirls around to see Yuki approaching. "Oh, Yuki, hi!"

"I was wondering if you had anything planned for the weekend." Yuki smiles as the two of them start for class.

"No, why?" Homura is piqued.

"If it doesn't rain, would you like to join me at the park for a picnic?" Yuki asks.

"Yeah!" Homura is excited about the possibility of food, but then she remembers it could rain that Saturday. "If it rains, we could meet at the game center or the movies..."

Much to Homura's surprise, Yuki is interested in the game center. "I love the dancing games there--I use them to practice dancing when it is raining."

"Interesting..." Homura muses. She hasn't seen Yuki as the type to enjoy video games before. "I hear your dad is a great director...." she continues.

"Yes--he's currently on location, shooting a romantic comedy set in Ireland." Yuki explains. "With his job taking him all around the world, I don't get to see him too often, but I do receive letters and gifts from him--to let me know he loves me and is thinking about me."

Homura is about to ask what the movie is about, but remembers the confrontation between Akane and Kaede a few days before, so decides not to pursue the subject further. "Well--my dad is a talent agent--he gets to see the next generation of idols and actors up close and personal...maybe your dad is working with actors my dad scouted, even!"

"It's very possible he does." Yuki smiles as she and Homura enter classroom 8C and take their seats.

_Later that day..._

"You did a great job of not coming out of the DS while I was in class." Homura smiles as she puts her schoolbooks away. Hinote is nearby on Homura's bed, nibbling on some carrots and dip.

"So that explains all that talking about numbers and history I heard-hino..." Hinote replies. "The Green Plains seems to be a fascinating place-hino."

"When you hear about its wonders every day for most of the year, it gets old fast." Homura sighs as she turns on her TV to check the weather forecast. She sighs when she sees that rain is called for on Saturday. "So much for meeting Yuki at the park..."

"Aw, I wanted to see Kouri..." Hinote sighs. Suddenly, the ringing of Homura's cell phone gets his attention. "What's that?"

"That would be my phone." Homura assures Hinote. "Hello?"

"Hi, Homura, Aiden here..." Aiden begins on the other end. "I was over by the game center a little while ago, and I saw this girl nearby sending what I thought was an egg inside--so if you're still going to the game center tomorrow, be careful--you could find something like that trash can monster out there."

"Will do." Homura replies. Deep down, she wonders if that egg also contains an Urusainaa as well. "You take care yourself, Aiden."

"All right." Aiden replies as Homura hangs up.

"I think your friend saw one of the minions of the Black Realm-hino!" Hinote announces.

Homura is not impressed. "I'll believe it when I see it." she replies, making Hinote sweatdrop.

_The next day..._

"Homura-san, this way!" Yuki calls as Homura slows to a stop before the Game Center and sets the wheels on her shoes inside their proper locations, making her shoes become normal footwear.

"Glad you could make it." Homura smiles.

"Hinote!" Kouri makes a mad dash for her brother.

"Kouri!" Hinote smiles. The two pegasi then begin chasing each other in erratic circles around their human masters.

"Aren't they cute?" Yuki giggles as Kouri leads Hinote through her legs. Homura just rolls her eyes and hopes that no one sees the two pegasi. After a few tense minutes, the two pegasi return to their owners and go inside their respective DSes, all without anybody noticing.

"That was close." Homura sighs as she pockets the red DS.

"Perhaps they wanted to spend time with each other for a while." Yuki explains before taking a look around the various games, air hockey tables, and Skee Ball ramps.

Homura decides to play a Tetris machine while Yuki stomps and jumps to the beat on a DDR machine, but before the two of them can get comfortable at their respective games, a crash and a scream is heard on one of the upper floors.

"Something's wrong!" Homura gasps. Yuki agrees and follows Homura upstairs, where a crowd of onlookers is watching what looks like a living Cyclone game chase a girl around the floor. Aiden's phone call weighs on Homura's mind--could that monster had been what came out of the egg he had saw?

"Urusainaa!" the monster roars as it tries to snare the girl in a ring of flashing lights.

"We have to help her!" Yuki calls. Homura nods, and the two of them jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands, and call "Dual Elemental Fury!", causing the wave of flames and ice to wash over the twosome again.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura confidently challenges the monster. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees.

"We are PreCure!" both call.

"Urusainaa!" The monster fires a ring of lights at Glacier, trapping her! But Ember delivers a flaming kick at the Urusainaa, breaking Glacier free. Glacier jumps away from bullets of lights and delivers an icy kick into the monster's back, making it spark with the damage. But miraculously, the damage heals itself in a matter of seconds.

"No way!" Glacier is shocked.

"Cardinal rule of video games..." Ember explains. "There's some location on the monster that's its weak spot." She pauses to dodge another ring of lights before going on. "Part of forming a good strategy is finding where that weak point is."

"Then maybe its back isn't its weak spot..." Glacier muses before getting an idea: What if she were to break the glass around the Urusainaa's head? "Ember! Distract the Urusainaa long enough for me to get a clear shot of its head!"

"Okay!" Ember replies before whistling for the Urusainaa's attention. "Hey sparkly eyes! Come get me!" she taunts. Angered, the Urusainaa fires three more light rings, but Ember dodges each one. Glacier takes advantage of the distraction to deliver an ice tinged blow to the glass, shattering it and greatly weakening the Urusainaa.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, making it return to a normal Cyclone game again and healing what damage was caused.

"PreCure, how can I ever repay you?" the girl smiles before hugging Glacier.

"Don't mention it!" Ember smiles as the crowd, relieved the monster is gone, begins to cheer. _If this is how I'll be thanked every time, I think I might like this PreCure gig..._ Ruida, who has been watching from behind a potted tree, turns to leave in a huff after seeing the Urusainaa she used has been defeated.

Later, the DDR machine sings "Smile, go go!" as Homura and Yuki step on the sparkling arrows arrows in time to the beat. While Homura is doing fairly well at following the beat, there's still some notes she stumbles over. Yuki, meanwhile, is hitting every note on the beat, making her combo count continue to climb, while Homura's combo is broken and started in spurts. When the song ends, Homura has a B, while Yuki has a full combo AAA.

Homura is impressed. "Wow, Yuki, you weren't kidding when you said you trained on these!"

"Would you like to try another song?" Yuki offers, noting that it is Homura's turn to pick the song for the next stage. Homura smiles and cycles through the song list for a moment before making her choice. The two of them proceed to dance to "Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~" for the crowd that has come to watch.

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]

[Next week: "A shocking secret! The shady class president!"]


	3. Episode 3

Homura sighs as she speeds onto campus. "What a wild weekend!" she narrates via voiceover. "What was meant to be a fun day at the game center with Yuki got crashed by one of those monsters again." We see a recap of the battle from the last episode. "Now I know for sure that this isn't a dream, and that those Black Realm guys could be anywhere...it's okay though, I still got some game time with Yuki in the end."

We see a flashback scene of Homura and Yuki on the DDR machine for a moment before Homura is snapped from her daydream by Keiko "Morning, Homura-san!"

Homura balks at Keiko's appearance: She is decked out in campaign buttons, "Vote Aiden" banners, "Aiden for Class President" signs and other election related items. "What's with all the campaign stuff?"

"Aiden decided he wanted to run for eighth grade class president this year, and chose me to manage his campaign." Keiko explains as she puts up a "Vote Aiden" sign in the grass.

"Really?" Homura is impressed. "What's your platform, President Aiden?" she gently jokes as Aiden joins the girls on the school's front steps.

"My big promise is to lower student fees to a reasonable level." Aiden explains. "Other items include a student post in the administration, and allowing the four class presidents to go with the council president to school board meetings."

"Wow...good luck!" Homura laughs as the three friends go inside the school building, unaware that Ruida is watching from behind a bush.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

Inside the hallways of the school, excited laughter fills the air as the various campaign posters go up on the walls. Among them is a familiar deep red haired girl putting up "Vote for Rui" posters--Ruida in a human disguise. _It sure was nice to have Bruyant come up with a human disguise for me--maybe now I can stand a chance of a sneak attack on the winged horses!_ she sneers.

In another part of the hallway, Homura is steadying another poster while Keiko applies tacky glue to one corner. "Have you heard anything about this Rui girl the whole school is talking about?"

"They say she's a master at basketball--not even the combined boys and girls teams have beaten her." Keiko replies.

"I heard about that this morning." a familiar voice interjects. Homura whirls around to see Yuki bringing more posters for her and Keiko to hang up. "She moved so quickly on the court, not one of the players could keep up with her."

"And then in math class, she knew all the answers to every last problem on last night's homework!" another boy agrees.

"Even number 57?" Homura asks. That one problem had kept her up most of the night, until Hinote had pointed out that you were supposed to cancel out the threes before solving for x.

"Even number 57!" the boy replies.

Ruida deviously smiles as she puts up another of her posters. _They're falling for my ruse perfectly--now to find the one that has been warning the winged horses' guardians!_

[Episode title: "A shocking secret! The shady class president!"]

"There...that's the last one!" Homura smiles as she hangs up the last of Aiden's posters.

"Thanks so much for all your help, guys..." Aiden begins.

"Our pleasure." Yuki replies. "You do have a few worthy causes on your platform...."

"Really?" Aiden is interested.

"I too believe the student voice needs to have a role in the school administration..." Yuki explains. "This way, the needs of the students can be at least considered."

"What about my promise to negotiate lower student fees?" Aiden asks, curious to know Yuki's opinion on his platform's main point.

"A worthy goal, to be honest, but it will not be easy." Yuki replies. Homura sighs--she remembers the year before, when the computer lab fee and the athletic fee went up for no reason. The whole school protested, but the administration had claimed the money was going towards improvements in the computer labs and the athletics complex--but after a year, those supposed improvements had yet to be seen.

The bell then rings for lunch. "Perfect timing! All this poster hanging has made me hungry!" Homura smiles as she leads the eighth grade charge to the cafeteria, only stopping to retrieve her lunch from her locker on the way.

Ruida is the only one left in the hallway--after retrieving an Urusainaa egg from her uniform pocket, she sneaks to the classroom where the first debate will be held and sends the egg inside one of the podiums. _Unleashing an Urusainaa where so many people are present in a small space--I can only dream of the noise that will make!_

In the cafeteria, Homura is munching on a sandwich until her DS magically flies from her bag and Hinote appears. "Ah, it feels so good to stretch my wings-hino!"

"Dah!" Homura panics, sending Hinote back into the top screen. She sheepishly giggles at the staring crowd. "Sorry--monster in the RPG startled me." The crowd buys that ruse and resumes eating.

"What's the matter-hino? I only wanted to be out for a while." Hinote is confused.

"You can't come out of the DS while all these people are here." Homura whispers, directing her voice to the DS' mic, making it look like Hinote is a game character she is commanding. "Let's go someplace else to eat."

The scene shifts to Homura and Yuki eating outside at one of the designated outdoor tables. Hinote and Kouri are nearby, weaving through tree branches. "Has Kouri ever surpised you in class?" Homura asks.

"Oh no--I understand what other humans might think of me if they find me-kori." Kouri explains and she and Hinote land on the table. "I applaud Hinote's curiosity about the Green Plains, but sometimes I have to remind him that we cannot be seen by other humans here-kori."

"Mm--these orange things are so good with the white stuff-hino!" Hinote smiles as Homura feeds him a carrot dipped in ranch dressing. Kouri rolls her eyes--Hinote didn't hear a word of her warning.

[CM break]

Homura sighs as she struggles to stay awake in English class later that day. Every so often, she looks over at the empty chair in the row in front of her, where Aiden would be. _He's lucky the first debate is today... then again, anything would be more interesting than "Great Expectations"..._

She is snapped from her bored trance by loud thud and screaming coming from the classroom down the hall, where the debate for class president is taking place. _Something's wrong!_

"Goodness, the debate is getting quite noisy..." the English teacher notes.

Homura raises her hand. "May I go over there and calm down the ruckus?"

"Me too?" Yuki agrees--she has a sneaking suspicion the noise is not all it appears.

"All right, Boukeno-san--Hanshou-san can go with you." the teacher replies as Homura brings her the hall pass for her to sign. Once she has received the teacher's signature, Homura takes the hall pass and leads Yuki a few doors over to classroom 8-AC, the eighth grade's all purpose room--where the class presidential debate is supposed to be underway.

The chaos inside confirms Homura's worst fear--students are frantically trying to flee from a podium with eyes, thin legs, a large mouth with a mic nearby, and thick arms. To top things off, the monster has Aiden cornered in one corner of the room. "Homura, do something!" he yelps before the monster unleashes a supersonic scream from its mic, prompting all nearby to shield their ears from the pain.

Yuki heaves a civics book at the Urusainaa, stunning it for a moment. "I know you're supposed to take care of the textbooks, but this is an emergency!"

"Then again, the student handbook doesn't have a chapter about what to do if a monster attacks!" Homura replies as she too heaves a textbook. "Aiden! Run back to class! We'll handle the monster!"

"Gotcha!" With that, Aiden flees the room. He doesn't quite understand what is going on, but he trusts Homura.  
Yuki leads Homura into a supply closet. "We can transform in here!" she wheezes as she slams the door. Once sure the Urusainaa isn't going to be attacking for a while, the two of them jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands, and call "Dual Elemental Fury!", causing the wave of flames and ice to wash over the twosome again.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps outside and confidently challenges the monster. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she too emerges from the closet.

"We are PreCure!" both call.

The Urusainaa screams again, but both Ember and Glacier conjure elemental shields, deflecting the sound waves away. "The podium is made of wood, and wood burns when exposed to fire..." Ember notes.

"An interesting observation!" Glacier agrees as she ducks under the Urusainaa's legs and delivers an ice-tinged punch to it. As the Urusainaa stumbles backwards, Ember jumps down and delivers a flame tinged kick to the back, setting the Urusainaa ablaze at the point of impact.

The Urusainaa doesn't realize it is burning at first, but once it becomes aware that it is burning, it unleashes one last supersonic scream before comically running around the room looking for something to put the fire out.

Glacier giggles as she deflects the scream. "Whoever is creating these monsters isn't very smart..."

"I resent that remark!" Ruida retorts as she puts out the small fire on the Urusainaa. "I only want to know one bit of information: Where are the Rainbow Notes?"

"We'll never tell you!" Glacier screeches.

"Not unless you want to be set on fire yourself!" Ember agrees.

Ruida just grimaces at the thought of being kicked and set ablaze, and warps away. The Urusainaa charges at PreCure, but the burnt location on its back is hampering its pace.

"Ember, now!" Glacier calls.

Ember begins to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal podium and fixing what damage was caused.

"Do you get the feeling that Rui and Ruida are the same person?" Glacier asks.

"It's possible, but I'd need more evidence of that." Ember replies before the two return to the storage closet.

"Is everything okay in there?" The English teacher asks before gasping at the mess the battle left.

"Yes, we were merely cleaning the mess in here after we found out what the ruckus was." Homura explains as she emerges from the supply closet with a broom.

"The custodians will clean it later, you two should go back to class." the English teacher replies.

A few days later, Homura and Yuki catch up to Aiden. "Aiden, you're still in the campaign?"

"Course...Rui dropped out for personal reasons, so we have another two weeks to campaign." Aiden replies. "I hope you two will vote for me after you saved my life."

Homura and Yuki balk at this. "We'll think about it." Homura stammers as everyone laughs.

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]

[Next week: "Akane's surprise! A Rainbow Note appears!"]


	4. Episode 4

Excited chatter fills the air as we look in on the backstage area of Teishoku Academy's auditorium. Some people are tuning instruments, others are stretching in preparation to dance, and still others are hunting down props and pets.

"OKAY!!!" Akane announces as she walks in the door, quieting the chaos. "Musical acts and bands, to the right, dancers and other physical acts, in the center, and anything else, to the left." The crowd obediently starts forming three lines so that they can get to the proper audition room.

We see Yuki in the musical act line, just ahead of a few singers. I love it when it is talent show time...but I've never really been in one before, so I'm a little nervous... she thinks, holding her guitar case close. She remembers trying out for the spring show last year, and nearly making the cut for it had there not been some better acts ahead of her. Fortunately, the student council decided over the summer to hold three shows, so that everyone that wanted to be in a talent show could have a better chance of making it in.

"Next!" Akane's call snaps Yuki from her daydream as she approaches the table Akane and two other girls are working the lines. "Okay...just write your name and what act you're wanting to do beside an audition time." Akane explains as she offers Yuki the clipboard with the audition times on it.

Yuki writes her name and "guitar/sing" next to her preferred time, but before Akane can take the clipboard back, she hears a strange female-like voice singing _Sing a melody of...  
_  
"What was that?" a girl asks.

_Sing a melody of..._ comes the odd voice again, prompting Akane to get up. "Someone take over my line, I'm gonna go see if we missed a singer." With that, she takes off backstage, looking for the supposed girl that is singing _Sing a melody of... _

Yuki swallows hard--what if the singing is not a person, but a Rainbow Note?

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

Elsewhere, Homura speeds over to the athletic complex, intent on watching the basketball team practice with Aiden. "Just last week, the race for class president got underway, and Aiden decided to run." she explains via voiceover as we see a flashback of Homura and Yuki hanging posters. But the first debate was crashed by an Urusainaa...and I have my suspiscions that whoever is creating them is right under our noses." We see scenes from the last episode's battle and a shot of Ruida turning into Rui before returning to Homura on the path again. _Nah...Rui can't be Ruida, can she?_

"Hey, Boukeno-san!" a voice calls, snapping Homura from her thoughts.

Homura slows to a stop when she sees Akane approaching. "Oh, Akane! What brings you all the way out here? I thought you were helping with talent show signups!"

"I was, until I kept hearing this girl singing "Sing a melody of..." Akane explains. "The melody's been driving me insane! I know I've heard it somewhere before, but at the same time, I have to know: Sing a melody of what?"

_if it's what I think it is, the answer is "Love, oh love."_ Homura smiles, glad that she's finally gotten a tip as to where a Rainbow Note is.

[Episode title: "Akane's surprise! A Rainbow Note appears!"]

"Ooh, that Akane..." Homura grumbles as she and Yuki head home that afternoon.

"What's the matter?" Yuki is curious.

"See, I met her on the way to the athletic complex this morning, and she said she kept hearing odd singing in the backstage area." Homura explains. "I smiled, thinking it was a Rainbow Note, and she interpreted my smile to be a confident one, and volunteered me to sing in the show in hopes what she thinks is a ghost is scared away!"

"Why is that bad?" Yuki is confused as to why Homura's angry.

"For one thing, I didn't even ASK to be in the show, and furthermore, I've sworn never to sing in public again after a bad experience with that in the third grade!" Homura seethes.

At this, Homura's DS flies from her bag and Hinote appears. "Actually, I don't think you're that bad of a singer-hino..."

"Oh sure, I'm fine when I'm singing by myself..." Homura explains. "But on a stage in front of a few thousand people? No way!" We see a spotlight appear on Chibi Homura as she steps before an audience, only to tense up as the chibi audience laughs.

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened in the third grade that caused you to give up performing?" Yuki asks

"For the elementary school's open house, every grade had to put on an act, and my third grade class was to sing solos--and I had to sing the school song in front of the other grades and the parents." Homura narrates via voiceover as we go into a flashback of young Homura tensely stepping to a mic. "Only problem was, I had to do this with no instrument to back me." Young Homura swallows hard and sings some off key gibberish, causing some in the audience to laugh. "I was so off key and nervous, everyone laughed, and I was escorted offstage in tears." Young Homura tries to continue over the laughter, but her nervousness and sadness causes her to run offstage, tears streaming down her face. We see Young Homura being comforted by a teacher before we return to the present. "After that, Mom said she wouldn't make me perform again." Homura concludes.

Just then, Yuki's DS flies from her bag, revealing Kouri. "I'm sorry you feel bad about performing-kori..." she assures Homura.

"If it would make you any happier, would you like me to back you on guitar and sing with you?" Yuki asks.

This makes Homura smile. "Sure! That would make this torture easier..."

Suddenly, Kouri hears the voice sing _Sing a melody of..._ as the girls pass the arts complex. "That voice-kori!"

"A Rainbow Note!" Hinote gasps.

"That voice Akane heard this morning!" Homura agrees. She motions for Yuki to follow her as she runs back inside the school, through the hall leading to the arts complex, past the arts computer labs, and through the auditorium stage door, where she sees Akane looking in awe at a indigo musical note made of crystal hovering over a box.

[CM break]

"Akane? What brings you here?" Yuki is surprised someone else other than them is in the room.

"I went back to check the backstage area after hearing that voice a few hundred times, and it turned out to be this crystal thing." Akane explains. The Rainbow Note glows as it sings _Sing a melody of..._

_Love, oh love..._ Yuki sings back in an attempt to lure the Rainbow Note to her. Surprisingly, the Rainbow Note hovers a little closer to Yuki and sings _Sing a melody of..._ again, prompting Yuki to answer back _Love, oh love..._ in reply.  
Minutes before the Note can settle in Yuki's hands, the signup table--only with glowing yellow eyes and a mouth--comes crashing through the entryway, making Akane scream in terror.

"I thought that singing sounded familiar..." Ruida sneers as she enters the room. "And now, that Rainbow Note is mine..."

"Not if I can help it!" Homura retorts as she grabs the Rainbow Note and throws it in a pile of boxes. "Akane! Run!"

Akane nods and tries to sprint away, but the Urusainaa makes some wires come alive and wraps her up in them.

"You think you can get away that easily?" Ruida laughs. "Just give that Rainbow Note to me, and I'll let your friend go."

"I don't have it!" Akane protests as she struggles to get free.

Homura and Yuki, meanwhile, retreat to a dressing room. Once sure they are not being followed, the two of them jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands, and call "Dual Elemental Fury!", causing the wave of flames and ice to wash over the twosome again.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura returns and challenges the monster. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees.

"We are PreCure!" both call.

The Urusainaa tries to wrap PreCure in wires as well, but both of them jump away as Ruida flees the scene. Ember narrowly escapes, but a wire trips Glacier, binding her in wires as well. Ember jumps over a wire and delivers a flame tinged kick to the wires holding Glacier, breaking her free. "Glacier, free Akane!"

"Right!" Glacier leaps over another wire and kicks the wires binding Akane, shattering them in a blast of ice and electricity. Akane is unharmed, but asleep, allowing her to not see what is going on.

Ember then takes some other wires and lassos the Urusainaa, turning its own tactic on itself. Satisfied with her handiwork, she begins to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal table again and healing what damage was caused.

"We did it-hino!" Hinote smiles as he surfaces from the boxes with the indigo note. "Now we can put this in the Score of Colors!" He offers a game card with a picture of a rainbow swirled book on it to Ember. "Just put this game card in the DS-hino!"

Ember complies with the request, making a larger version of the book appear in front of Hinote. Hinote takes the indigo note and carefully sets it inside one indentation in the right hand page. It sings _Sing a melody of..._ one last time before the book closes and disappears inside the DS.

"Now that the Note is in the Score, it will be safe from the Black Realm." Kouri explains. Ember smiles, but she is also very aware that there are seven more Rainbow notes to find.

Akane comes to some minutes later. "Wow...I dreamt the signup table turned into a monster and tied me up in wires, and these girls known as PreCure saved me..."

"Maybe you should not watch so much anime, Akane..." Yuki replies, making everyone laugh.

A week or so later, the whole school turns out for the talent show, and Homura and Yuki are the first act. "I'm still a little mad at Akane for volunteering me to do this, but at least I have an instrument to back me this time." Homura gives Yuki a weak smile through her nervousness.

"You'll do just fine--and if you forget the tune, listen for my voice." Yuki assures Homura as she tunes her guitar. The crowd roars as the girls step onstage, prompting Yuki to start playing "Mamoru no Melody" before the other instruments join in the background.

Homura speaks in voiceover as the scene of Homura and Yuki performing becomes a still manga-esque drawing. "Then again, maybe performing isn't that bad after all!"

[ED: Mamoru no Melody (Homura and Yuki ver.)]

[Next week: "Save Kouri! PreCure to the rescue!"]


	5. Episode 5

In the Black Realm, Ruida is brooding over what has happened thus far. "Every time I try to capture either a Rainbow Note or one of the winged horses, those guardians show up!" We see a scene of Homura and Yuki unleashing PreCure Frosty Fever for a moment. "If only I knew who or what was tipping them off!"

"Perhaps you could try going after one of the winged horses?" Yende suggests.

Ruida is a little unsure at this. "How do you know that will work?" she asks as Yende offers her some tea.

"Each of them is tied to one of the guardians, so maybe if we captured the one that holds the Rainbow Notes, that would render the Guardians helpless." Yende suggests before giving Ruida a bundle of rope. "Bruyant suggested I give this magic rope to you--whatever is bound in it will be unable to get out."

Ruida smiles deviously as she accepts the rope. _The guardians are gonna be in for a little surprise... _

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

A school bus pulls up to a park entrance, and students begin to disembark. Homura is one of the first ones off the bus. "After getting volunteered for the school talent show against my will, Yuki and I heard some odd singing in the backstage area." she narrates via voiceover as we see a flashback of Homura and Yuki looking surprised at an indigo music note hovering over some boxes. "It turned out the singing was not a ghost, as Akane feared..." We see Akane being knocked away and bound by the Urusainaa. "But it was actually a Rainbow Note." We see Hinote putting the indigo note in a rainbow colored book before we return to the present. "Now that we have one of the Rainbow Notes, I'm a little afraid the Black Realm will step up their attacks--what if they take Hinote?"

"Homura-san, come on!" Aiden's calling snaps Homura from her thoughts.

Yuki finds Homura in the crowds some minutes later. "What were you thinking about so hard?"

Homura is about to answer until a teacher shepherds the crowd of students into a picnic shelter. Once the crowd settles in, the PE teacher addresses them. "Now then, let me go over the rules for our backpacking expedition..."

Yuki swallows hard--walking long distances was never her strong point, and it was a test of will just to survive running a mile. Homura, on the other hand, is looking foward to exploring Yasuragi Park's many trails. Some of them, she has been down before, but the route the PE teacher is outlining appears to be one of the less traveled trails. A river is also on the route, raising Homura's hopes of canoeing or rafting. Despite her excitement, her fears of one of the two pegasi being horse-napped weighs heavily on her mind. _Hinote...I will protect you._ she silently promises as she caresses her DS carry case.

Elsewhere, Ruida is on a part of the trail overlooking the picnic areas that lie down a nearby hill, hiding her magic rope within the wildflowers. Once I have the winged horses, we can make some progress on finding the Rainbow Notes! she smiles as she looks over her handiwork one last time before warping away.

[Episode title: Save Kouri! PreCure to the rescue!]

Back in the picnic shelter, the PE teacher passes out maps of the route to the students, who have been paired up. Homura and Yuki are together, as are Aiden and Keiko. Akane is not pleased at being paired up with Jiro, her self proclaimed rival in the Drama Club.

"Let's see here..." Homura studies the route. "From this shelter, head north and east, then turn west and head south a ways to reach the hills overlooking the picnic areas. Once we stop to have lunch, we turn west again into the woodsy part of the trail and turn north again, allowing us to arrive by the river with the rest of us by sunset if all goes well."

"While on paper, I know it doesn't look far, but I hate walking a long distance." Yuki complains as she and Homura line up to receive their survival bags containing food, first aid, and other items.

"Just keep your body hydrated and stop to rest every so often and you'll do just fine." Homura assures Yuki as she slings the bag on her back.

"Okay..." Yuki stammers as she and Homura start down the trail, stifling a giggle at Akane and Jiro fighting over who carries what.

Homura gently knocks on her DS carry case. "Hinote, if you want to come out and take a look around..." She stops to see if anyone else is following her and Yuki first. "now's your chance."

Hinote appears from the case seconds later. "What a beautiful day to flex my wings-hino!"

"I'd very much like to borrow a pair of wings so we won't have quite so far to walk..." Homura replies.

Kouri appears from Yuki's DS case. "But you're the one that loves to walk-kori." she notes.

"That's true--even so, this is a trail I haven't been on before." Homura explains as the two of them round a corner.

Hinote, meanwhile, is looking around at the plant life in awe. "Wow--I never knew the Green Plains had so much wildlife-hino!"

"And this is just a very small sampling of the life in this world." Yuki agrees as she and Homura stop to rest.

"What else is there-hino?" Hinote is interested now.

Yuki pulls a book about rainforests from her small bag and invites both Hinote and Kouri to look at the pictures. "It is said that the rainforests of South America are home to many rare and endangered wildlife."

Homura notices the book. "Are forests on the Crystal Plains anything like the rainforests here?" she asks Hinote.

"Well, we do have big leafy plants like this..." Kouri smiles, gesturing to a picture of a large fern. "Only when they bloom, you can find gems and other mystical items in the flowers." Homura imagines finding a ruby in the leaves of such a plant. If I ever find a way to the Crystal Plains, I'm finding one of those first!

"Are we ready to move on?" Yuki asks, snapping Homura from her daydream.

"Uh, yeah!" Homura stammers as she scrambles to her feet. "If you want to lead the way for a while, that's fine."

"I'd be glad to." Yuki smiles as she accepts the map or the route from Homura. Hinote and Kouri are not far behind as the girls continue down the trail.

[CM break]

Later, the girls have arrived at the hill overlooking the picnic area. The sun is high overhead, and Yuki is relieved to not be walking during the heat of the day. "Goodness! If I'd known it would be this hot, I would've worn the summer uniform!"

Homura digs a small fan from her bag, flicks it on, and lets the cold air blow in Yuki's face. "That better?"

"Oh yes...the cold air feels heavenly!" Yuki smiles as she wipes some sweat from her brow. Before long, Hinote is hovering in the airstream, as if surfing on the air currents.

Kouri, meanwhile, is exploring the large field dotted with wildflowers. _So many flowers here--reminds me of home._ she thinks as she stops to admire a sunflower. Before she can circle close to it, a black rope lashes out and wraps itself around one of her back legs. "Augh! Homura! Yuki! Hinote! Someone help!" she screams as she struggles to free herself.

Yuki hears Kouri's cries in the distance. "Kouri's in trouble!"

"Come on!" Homura abandons her lunch and leads Kouri through the field, where they find Ruida cradling the struggling Kouri in her arms. "Let Kouri go, now!" she demands.

Ruida just smirks. "You want the winged horse back? Come and find it first!" With that, she creates a purple and black void and flies inside, taking Homura and Yuki with her. Once the void closes, the girls find themselves falling through a deep blue area seemingly made of crystal.

"We need to do something!" Homura yelps as she fumbles for her DS case and jams the music note game card into her DS, making it glow red. Yuki does likewise, making her DS glow blue. The two of them join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" making a wave of flames and ice engulf the two of them even as they fall through a never ending void.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura lands on a floor made of what looks like glass. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she lands.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"So you two guard this winged horse I found...' Ruida appears before Ember and Glacier. "Interesting....I expected beings older than little girls."

"Where's Kouri?" Ember demands.

"If you want the winged horse so badly, let me propose a challenge..." Ruida explains as rows and rows of doors appear behind her. "I have hidden it behind one of these doors--if you find the door I hid it behind before time runs out, you can keep it. Fail, and the winged horse is mine." At this, a large hourglass appears, and the black sand inside begins to fall.

"Deal!" Glacier replies. With that, she runs to a door and opens it, but she jumps away as it falls down. Ruida smiles and warps away as Ember delivers a flaming punch to another fake door with teeth. This continues for a while: Glacier kicks a living door, Ember watches a fake door fly away, Glacier freezes another door before it can lunge at her, and Ember ignites another fake door.

After a while, the sand in the hourglass is halfway gone, and PreCure is getting tired from fighting off traps behind fake doors. "Just how many doors are there?" Ember wheezes. "It'll take forever to find the right one!"

"Maybe not-hino..." Hinote confidently smirks.

"How do you propose we find the right door? Our time is halfway gone!" Glacier is concerned..

"The Rainbow Notes can discern secrets-hino..." Hinote assures Glacier as he summons the Score of Colors. "But since we only have one Note, the hint won't be a very large one..." he admits as the indigo Rainbow Note flies out of the Score.

"Well, any hint is better than nothing." Ember sighs.

The indigo Rainbow Note then sings _Sing a melody of..._ making a door on the third row of remaining doors glow as the melody echoes back.

"See-hino?" Hinote replies as the Rainbow Note returns to the Score. "Kouri is behind the door that's glowing-hino!"

"We don't have a moment to lose!" Ember leads Glacier through the rows of doors until she spots the glowing door and opens it. Sure enough, Kouri is still bound and struggling to get free in the small room. "Let's unleash Frosty Fever!"

"Actually, Frosty Fever would kill Kouri, and we don't want that." Glacier notes.

"Then how else are we going to free Kouri?" Emer asks, exasperated that they don't have very much time left and they seemingly have no way to free Kouri.

Just then, the Indigo Note sings _Sing a melody of...., _making the rope binding Kouri and Ember's hands glow. "Could it be...the Note we have gave us a way to break the ropes?" Ember gasps.

"It's worth a try." Glacier assures her partner.

Inspired by the Indigo Note singing, Ember charges a red ball of light. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a blue ball of light. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The light balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Lumen Concerto!" With the lone Rainbow Note singing in the background, small waves of red and blue light go flying from the girls' hands, shattering Kouri's bindings and making the paralell dimension disappear.

"Thank you, both of you!" Kouri is especially relieved to be free. "You two saved my life-kori!"

"I'm not sure how we did it, but it was nothing!" Homura replies as she returns to the group's supplies and cleans up their picnic. "We'd better get going if we need to be at the river by sunset." Yuki nods and hugs Kouri as she runs to follow Homura down the trail.

The girls arrive at the large camp by the river some hours later, just as the sun is setting. "We made it!" Homura wheezes.

"And with just minutes to spare." Yuki agrees as she signs into the camp for the PE teacher as another pair arrives.

"What took so long, Homura-san?" Keiko asks. "Usually you're the first one in camp when we hike!"

"Let's just say Yuki and I had a little adventure of our own on the way." Homura laughs. Keiko buys that answer, and embraces her friend as Akane and Jiro arrive at the camp, still arguing, making them the last pair in before the whole eighth grade is accounted for.

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "Expedition on the river! The legend of the Rainbow Notes!"]


	6. Episode 6

Laughter and cheers fill the air as the students race to the river bank the next morning, where a number of canoes are waiting. Homura and Yuki are one of the first ones to arrive. "We're here at the park for a unit on hiking and wilderness survival." Homura explains via voiceover as she and Yuki push their canoe into the water and receive life jackets and other supplies from the PE teacher. "Our hike up to the camp would've gone smoothly, had Kouri not been taken by the Black Realm." We see scenes of Kouri getting captured, Ruida giving her challenge, and PreCure opening and battling fake doors before returning to Homura and Yuki climbing in their canoe. "I wonder if Kouri's willing to talk about what happened, or if Ruida realizes she got the wrong pegasus back there." Homura giggles at the thought of what the look on Ruida's face might have looked like when she saw she got Kouri instead of Hinote.

"What are you smiling for?" Yuki asks as she and Homura set out onto the river. The girls have agreed that Homura will row, and Yuki ride in the back.

"Oh, just wondering what the look on Ruida's face looked like when she got Kouri instead of Hinote." Homuta smiles. She looks back on the bank to see Akane and Jiro arguing about who will row before the camp disappears around a riverbend.

[OP: "DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure" (Flash Fire version)]

Homura and Yuki pull away from the other canoes after another turn around a bend. Yuki studies the DS case by her side as she admires the flowers and trees around her. _Kouri...tell me about your ordeal..._

Just then, Homura's DS case opens and Hinote appears. "Wow--I've never seen so much water in a river before-hino."

"You think this river is big, there's even bigger ones elsewhere." Homura shoots back.

Kouri emerges from Yuki's DS case seconds later. "I don't doubt your word, Homura, but Hinote has an attention span of a fly when he's in a new place..."

Hinote is shocked that his sister would call him a fly. "I am not a fly!" he retorts.

"Now, now, calm down." Yuki is quick to defuse the fight before it can escalate.  
Homura, meanwhile, addresses Kouri. "Do you feel like you can talk about what happened back there with your capture and all?"

"Well-kori..." Kouri is unsure.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I'm only curious as to what Ruida did to you back there." Homura assures her.

"She didn't harm me in any way-kori, just kept me locked in a hidden room and periodically asked me where the Rainbow Notes were..." Kouri explains. We see a black and white flashback of Ruida asking a thouroughly bound Kouri something, Kouri shaking her head no, then Ruida leaving the room before we return to the girls on the river again.

"Thank goodness you're okay..." Homura heaves a sigh of relief.

"I'm relieved too-kori, but I don't expect others in the Black Realm to be quite as merciful should they take me." Kouri shudders.

"I know others in the Black Realm won't take you-hino!" Hinote smiles, having forgotten about his anger from beging called a fly. "That's because we have PreCure, and soon, their guardian and Eika-hino!"

"Eika?" Homura is confused.

"Who could that possibly be?" Yuki asks as Hinote and Kouri laugh.

"Furthermore, what could happen when we get all the Rainbow Notes, anyway?" Homura wonders.

"What that happens, that will be a glorious day-hino!" Hinote smiles.

"I know, but what will happen when that day comes?" Homura asks, curious.

"For one thing, you will be able to unleash the colors of the Rainbow Notes' melodies with your powers of fire and ice, in an attack called Lyrical Fash." Hinote explains. "It is the only thing that can harm the leader of the Black Realm, a being known as Lady Dischord-hino."

[Episode title: "Expedition on the river! The legend of the Rainbow Notes!"]

The girls have made it a little farther down the river now, but Homura is thinking about what Hinote and Kouri said earlier. Just who is "Eika" and who is this guardian that is supposed to protect them?

She gently nudges Hinote, who is dozing by her left leg. "Hinote?"

"Hm?" Hinote sleepily replies. "What is it-hino?

"You mentioned that Yuki and I had a guardian, and that this guardian is protected by someone named "'Eika'." Homura asks. "Just who is she?"

"Eika is a pegasus like Kouri and I-hino, only her job is to protect the one that guards PreCure-hino." Hinote explains. "Kouri and I are not related to her by blood, but the three of us are related by friendship." We see a scene of Hinote and Kouri embracing a gold colored pegasus nearby a majestic palace made of gems and crystal that sits on clouds. "Just as Eika is our friend, PreCure's guardian is related to one of you by friendship."

Homura imagines a gold colored human outline with a question mark inside. "Then that rules out Hikari, as she is family to me..." The gold outline shifts into an outline of Hikari for a moment before resetting itself.

"Akane doesn't seem the guardian type to me..." Yuki sighs, making the outline shift into an outline of Akane.

"Furthermore, this guardian is male." Kouri adds as the outline resets itself.

Homura pictures Aiden in a PreCure costume and stifles a giggle, but Hinote continues "No, no, this guardian can't transform like you can, but he is very attuned to his surroundings, and knows when the Black Realm is nearby."

_That sounds like something describing Aiden..._Homura thinks.

"Is Eika somewhere on the Green Plains?" Yuki asks. Unbeknownst to her, Ruida is nearby another bend in the river, submerging an Urusainaa egg under the rushing water before warping away.

"Unfortunately, I do not know-hino..." Hinote sighs as Homura stops rowing, letting the current carry the canoe down the river.

[CM break]

The canoe has been drifting downstream for a while now, and Yuki has been relishing the cool breeze and warm sun. iIt's so peaceful out here.../i

Her solitude is interuppted when a large wave builds under the canoe and sends both girls and the pegasi flying onto a bank. As she gingerly eases herself to her feet, she notices that the wave was no ordinary wave--what created it was a whirlpool-creature with piercing yellow eyes!

"Ruida!" Homura growls as she too gets up, clearly in pain.

"I know it hurts, but what if the others find this monster?" Yuki sees a number of scratches, bumps, and bruises dotting Homura, but her biggest fear is Homura having something broken. Homura's DS case flies to her, and she jams the music note game card into the DS, making it glow red. Yuki does likewise, making her DS glow blue. Both then join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!", unleashing a wave of fire and ice that engulfs the two of them, but does not scorch nor freeze the vegetation around them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner on the riverbank.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

The Urusainaa unleashes a wave of water, extinguishing Ember's flaming kick immediately. "Huh?" It dawns on her that just like in games, water defeats fire. At the same time, water can be frozen into ice by ice.

She is about to offer Yuki the idea, but Yuki seems to have attempted that, delivering an ice tinged kick to a wave of water, turning it to ice. Ember jumps to try and get on the frozen wave, but is drenched by a wave of water, which shatters the frozen wave.

"EMBER!!!" Glacier watches in horror as Ember goes flying to the ground.

Much to Glacier's relief, Ember is relatively unharmed. "I've been hurt worse, such as being thrown from a boat." she taunts the Urusainaa. This angers the Urusainaa. "Yeah, you think you're so tough, but today will be the day fire beats water!"

"Ember, don't!" Glacier calls.

"Just trust me, and get ready to kick the wave!" Ember assures her partner as the Urusainaa prepares to unleash another wave. When the wave comes, Ember jumps out of the way and Glacier gaves the water an ice tinged kick, freezing it. Ember then jumps onto the frozen wave and runs up to the also frozen Urusainaa, giving it a kick to the face that melts the ice around it, making the Urusainaa rear back in pain.

"That's very clever-kori..." Kouri notes.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, making it disappear and returning the river to its peaceful state again.

Glacier finds the canoe, which is miraculously undamaged, resting on top of a rock. "Shall we continue on our way?" she smiles. Ember smiles in agreement as she runs to help Glacier.

Later, Homura and Yuki arrive with their classmates at a cave by the river. Upon entry, everyone is amazed by the number of crystals, gems and minerals waiting to be mined from the small stream that flows outside into the river.

"Wow!" Akane is especially impressed.

"There's enough to make billions of rings and pendants in here!" Keiko agrees.

"Homura?" What do all these gems in the game remind you of?" Aiden asks as he joins Homura and Yuki by the stream with a screened in box.

"It reminds me of a castle I read about in a novel once..." Homura smiles, winking at Yuki. Yuki smiles--she knows that Homura was really thinking about the castle on the Crystal Plains.

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]

[Next week: "Hikari's honor! The science fair disaster!"]


	7. Episode 7

I'm home, nee-san!" Hikari announces as she sets her backpack by the door.

"How was your day, Hikari?" Homura looks up from reading an adventure novel long enough to smile at her sister.

"Okay...but I really need your help." Hikari replies as she searches the pantry for a snack. "The science fair is coming up, and Miss Ueda wants the whole class to try and get one of the few spots reserved for second graders."

"Mm-hm..." Homura beckons for her sister to go on.

"My problem..." Hikari goes on. "is I'm not sure what to do my paper on--and a second grader can only enter a project if they write a great paper."

"When's this paper due?" Homura is concerned now.

"I have two weeks to do it, but I'd like to go to the library and get some ideas." Hikari replies as she emerges from the pantry with some dried fruit.

"Right now?" Homura is not looking foward to having her quiet time interrupted even more than it has.

"Yeah, right now." Hikari replies, making Homura sigh.

[OP: "DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire version)"]

In the library, Homura returns with more books on scientific topics while Hikari pages through an encyclopedia. "Any luck?"

"Nope..." Hikari replies. "I wanted to do the solar system, but somebody already took that..."

"Did you have any other topics in mind?" Homura asks.

"Tina took my idea of photosynthesis, Emi decided she was doing how musical instruments work, and Ken took my idea about volcanoes..." Hikari laments. "Now I don't know what to do..." She sighs as Homura goes to find more books.

[Episode title: "Hikari's honor! The science fair disaster!"]

Suddenly, Homura's DS case flies from her bag and Hinote appears. "You know, you could ask Yuki for help-hino..." he whispers, acutely aware of the "QUIET PLEASE" sign above one shelf.

"How would Yuki be able to help?" Homura whispers back as she runs a finger over what books she hasn't grabbed yet, hoping all the while no one will find Hinote.

"Yuki's mom teaches science-hino, so your sister might get an idea if she sits in on a lecture or gets a private tour of a lab-hino." Hinote replies before returning to the DS. Homura takes the idea to heart, and makes her way back to the table, where Hikari has found a grand total of two ideas.

"I like the idea of electric circuits, but I'm also thinking about the science of cooking." Hikari reports. What books Homura brought her before is now stacked up neatly on the table, save for the ones Hikari is going to check out and some copied encyclopedia pages.

Homura smiles as she heads for the checkout desk--the trip to the library wasn't a total loss.

Meanwhile, Yuki is startled out of a dance by the phone. "Kouri, please see who that is..."

Kouri obediently flies over to the phone and studies the caller ID. "It's Homura-kori." With that, she disppears inside the DS as a blonde haired woman enters the room.

Yuki dashes to the phone and answers it. "Hello?"

"Hi Yuki, Homura here..." Homura begins. "You know how your mom's lecturing on electrical circuits tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, she even plans on building some simple devices as a demonstration." Yuki smiles. The woman smiles back, then goes to tend to a few circuit boards in another room.

"Well, Hikari, my little sister, is wanting to enter her school's science fair, and only a few spots are open to her grade level." Homura explains. "Would it be okay if I brought her to the lecture?"

"Of course!" Yuki replies. "Mom did say the lecture was free of charge and open to all."

"Thanks so much!" We look in Homura's room as we see Homura hang up the phone. "Well, Hikari, we're off to hear a real scientist talk about electrical circuits."

"Cool!" Hikari's eyes turn to stars.

The next day, Homura, Hikari, and Yuki join a large croud in an auditorium on the university campus. "Now, don't forget to take notes--I didn't take you out of class to play today." Homura reminds Hikari.

"I know, nee-san." Hikari sighs as she flips to a clean page in her science notebook.

The blonde haired woman from before steps onstage, quieting the crowd. "Good morning, everyone; and on behalf of the university physics department, I'd like to welcome you to the third lecture in our series "Science in Laymen's Terms." While Yuki has undoubtedly heard her mother lecture before, Hikari is paying rapt attention and writing intensely as the woman displays the many diagrams and simple circuits she has made.

However, back at the elementary school, Ruida sneaks into the exhibit hall where the science fair will be held and hides a Urusainaa egg under one table, smiling deviously as she warps away.

[CM break]

A week or two later, Hikari races into the house, excited. "I made it! I made it!"

"Made what?" Homura asks, confused.

"I made it into the science fair, silly!" Hikari giggles. "Ms. Ueda loved my paper!" She proudly shows Homura the A+ on the title page of her paper.

"Congratulations!" Mrs. Boukeno runs to hug Hikari.

"So what would you like to do for the project?" Homura asks.

"Build an alarm out of an electrical circuit like we saw at the lecture." Hikari replies.

"One moment, I think I have supplies we can use to build one...." Homura races upstairs to her room and digs out a box of electrical resistors, wires, some 9 volt batteries, a circuit board, an electrically operated bell, and a speaker from her bag--she was going to use them for extra credit in her science class, but for the moment, Hikari needs tham more.

We see a few scenes of Hikari and Homura at work building the alarm and documenting all the steps taken to build it. Finally, Hikari dangles the trigger down to a place where a stray foot can move the trigger wire to complete the circuit. "Okay, nee-san, step on the wire and see if the alarm goes off!"

Homura nods and steps on the wire, completing the circuit and making the sound of a loud bell ringing come from the speaker. "It works!" she calls as she lifts her foot away to break the circuit.

"All right!" Hikari is especially happy with her handiwork. With that, the alarm is carefully packed away in Hikari's bag. Homura is especially relieved to be done with the project.

A few days later, both Homura and Yuki are on hand at the elementary school to help out--Homura to help set up Hikari's alarm and demonstrate it, and Yuki to judge the other projects. "Imagine that! I didn't know you were going to judge all these projects." Homura smiles as she assembles the alarm.

"I needed some community service hours, and it's always a joy to see what the children have made." Yuki replies as she admires a diagram of the inside of the Earth.

Once satisfied that Hikari's alarm is set up and armed, Homura takes a moment to look around the fair--there's a number of solar system models, an interesting acid and base exhibit, and a cute model of baby falcons. She's about to step into the demonstration room to check on Hikari when a familiar ringing snaps her to attention: something tripped Hikari's alarm! The crowds scatter once they see the perpetrator: one of the Jupiter balls on the solar system models has grown eyes, spindly legs, and a mouth, where it spews acid.

"What's going on?" Hikari asks, confused as to why the crowd is fleeing.

"Come on..." Homura leads Hikari over to an empty cabinet just large enough for a child to fit. "Stay in here, and don't come out until I get back--I'm going to go with Yuki to get help, okay?"

"Okay..." Hikari shudders as Homura shuts the door, closing her inside.

With Hikari in a safe place, Homura finds Yuki in the scattering crowd and leads her into an empty room seconds before the Urusainaa senss them and chases them. Yuki leads Homura ino a walk in storage area. "In here!" One sure they are not being followed, the girls fumble for their DS cases and jam the music note game cards inside, join hands, and call "Dual Elemental Fury!", making a wave of flames and ice engulf them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps into the room. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

The Urusainaa spews a wave of acid at PreCure, but they quickly jump away. Glacier forms an icy shield around Ember, but she too jumps away and lands on top of a cabinet. Just when Ember lands, she notices more acid flying towards Glacier! "Look out!"

Glacier obediently jumps away as the acid hits, kicking the Urusainaa on the way. Ember then makes a flying jump kick from above, sending the Urusainaa flying against the wall.

"Any ideas of where a weak spot could be?" Ember asks as she studies the dazed Urusainaa.

"I could try kicking it right there..." Glacier notes, pointing out where the Great Red Spot is on the Jupiter-Urusainaa.

"Worth a try!" Ember smiles. By this time, the Urusainaa has recovered, and is charging to pin Ember to the wall! But Ember jumps away, allowing Glacier to kick it in the Great Red Spot, freezing that area.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, making it return to a Styrofoam ball colored as the planet Jupiter and healing what damage that was caused.

"We did it...we saved the fair!" Yuki smiles as Homura goes to release Hikari.

Despite the Urusainaa, the fair continues as planned, and Hikari's alarm wins third place in the physical science division. Hikari smiles. _Thank you, nee-san...you may have helped me build the alarm, but it was PreCure that saved the day!_

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]

[Next week: "My dream of being an idol! But what about PreCure?"]


	8. Episode 8

We hear the whir of Rollerblades as Homura whizzes down a pathway. "After being with Yuki for a few weeks and our first few battles as PreCure, I had the impression that she was a sweet and kind girl with a love for the arts." she explains via voiceover as we see scenes of Yuki from past episodes for a moment before we return to Homura again. "But as I rounded the corner that afternoon, I found Yuki doing something I had never seen her do." Homura rounds the corner to enter town, but she spots Yuki sitting on a bench by a bus stop, tearfully studying a piece of paper.

Homura's DS case shakes and Hinote appears. "Is it normal when humans have diamonds falling from their eyes-hino?"

"No, those aren't diamonds...they're tears." Homura explains. "Humans make them when they're sad."

"Then...Yuki's crying?" Hinote is shocked. "Why?"

"I'm not sure, but I want to find out, so we can cheer her up and know we'll be there for her." Homura notes as she glides closer to the bench. _Something terrible must have happened for Yuki to be crying--but what?_

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

"Yuki?" Homura calls as she glades to a stop by the bench. "Is everything okay?"

"Well..." Yuki pauses to wipe away more tears. "You see, one of my biggest dreams is to become an idol--make a career out of singing and songwriting." We see an older version of Yuki with an acoustic guitar singing before a large crowd. "So I've applied to a few talent agencies in town. However, an agency in another city has offered for me to come work with them--but if I go, Mom will be alone, and I'll also have to say goodbye to you." She tears up again. "What should I do?"

Homura freezes up at Yuki's dillema--if she leaves Tokyo, then PreCure will also be broken up!

Ruida notices Yuki in tears. _So the guardians are splitting up? I've got to tell everyone in the Black Realm!_

[Episode title: "My dream of being an idol! But what about PreCure?"]

In the Black Realm, Bruyant, a deep green haired girl, and Yende are in the middle of a card game when Ruida returns. "Everyone! I have great news!"

"Finally, Ruida did something right for once..." the girl sneers.

"Lautia! You know better than to pick on Ruida!" Yende scolds when he sees the pained expression on Ruida's face.

"For all we know, Ruida could be serious about what she has to say." Bruyant agrees.

"Okay, okay...geez..." Lautia sighs.

"What's all the fuss in here about?" Lady Dischord asks as she warps in the room.

"Ruida came in here saying she bore good news, Lautia made an inappropriate comment, and Bruyant and I have been reprimanding her." Yende explains.

"I applaud Ruida's zeal in her mission, and how she's made some strides in tracking down the winged horses, but she still needs to learn that the power of light is not to be trifled with." Lady Dischord begins. Lautia starts to say something, but Lady Dischord motions for her to be quiet.

"You were saying, Ruida?" Yende asks.

"I overheard two girls that looked like PreCure--or at least who I think might be PreCure, talking." Ruida explains. "One of them was crying about something, and I heard the other say something about leaving. That means the guardians are splitting up!"

"Not so fast, Ruida...humans do have legit reasons to cry." Lautia cautions. "Or so says Bruyant."

"You don't believe me?" Ruida gasps.

"Lautia, enough." Lady Dischord interrupts, calming Ruida. "I believe that what Ruida says is true--therefore I want her to try and encounter one of these guardians alone."

"According to what you have found on these guardians..." Bruyant adds. "Their power comes from being together, so if you were to try and confront one of them when they are alone, make sure the other is not close by." He lets that hang as Ruida departs before resuming the card game with Lautia and Yende.

Meanwhile, Homura and Yuki are in Homura's room, discussing Yuki's impending decision. "You realize that being an idol is not all fun and games?" Homura cautions.

"I've known that ever since I began playing music--much like a musician needs to practice each day, an idol has to make appearances, give concerts, and sell merchandise, among other things."

Homura's DS case shakes and Hinote appears. "I still can't believe you would want to leave-hino...." he notes.

Yuki's DS case shakes and Kouri appears. "But if it is something you really want to do, I won't stop you-kori"

"You don't think I'm abandoning PreCure, are you?" Yuki asks.

"Well..." Hinote thinks on the idea of having half of PreCure in two different cities. "It depends on how far away you would have to go-hino..."

"That's right!" Kouri says. "If the two of you are relatively close, you could still carry out your duties as PreCure-kori."

"But what if Yuki has to go farther than the next town--or worse, out of Japan?" Homura is worried now. We see a black and white scene of Ruida capturing Cure Ember for a moment before we return to Homura shuddering over the thought of her capture with no Cure Glacier to help.

[CM break]

A day or so later, Homura shows Yuki a large office complex. "Since you haven't really accepted that contract yet, I thought I'd take you to the agency where my dad works for a mock audition--so you'll know what to expect if you do decide to go."

"I appriciate your concern and support." Yuki replies with a smile as the girls step inside and round a corner before boarding an elevator.

Ruida is one step ahead of our heroes, planting an Urusainaa egg in a microphone.

The elevator dings, and Homura and Yuki step into the suite housing the talent agency. There are a number of people present in the reception area, but Homura has her sights on one person: a young man with honey blonde hair discussing something with a black haired boy. As soon as the prospect departs, she waves in the man's direction. "Hey, Dad!"  
The man sees Homura waving and smiles as he hands off some papers to the receptionist. "Homura, sweetie..." he laughs as he hugs Homura. "What brings you here today?"

"This is Yuki, a friend of mine from school." Homura explains, gesturing to Yuki, who waves hello. "She's an incredible musician and singer, and has told me she wants to become an idol."

"Mm-hm, go on..." Mr. Boukeno reaches for some blank paper and begins making a profile for Yuki.

We see more scenes of Homura talking and Mr. Boukeno writing for a moment before we return to the reception area some hours later. There isn't as many people as there was before, but Homura, Yuki, and Mr. Boukeno are still present as Homura concludes her story. "...and so I felt that if she was going to be an idol, she should at least know what to expect at an audition--so I came hoping you'd be willing to give her a mock audition."

"Well, we have the first step already made--a profile for Yuki." Mr. Boukeno explains, showing Homura the profile. "Now, if you'll come with me, we can begin the mock." But no sooner do the three of them step into the audition room, does Homura hear a crash and people screaming--it seems a creature made of a mic and some boom stands is rampaging through the room, paralyzing what humans it can with loud sound waves.

"What is that?" Mr. Boukeno is shuddering.

"I don't know, but Yuki and I are going to get help! Come on!" Homura leads Yuki away from the audition room. The mic Urusainaa starts to follow, but it trips on its own wires, buying the girls time to reach a karaoke room. Once sure they are not being followed, the girls jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps into the room. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

The Urusainaa screams, sending enchanted sound waves throughout the room and shattering any breakables in the vicinity. "Not screaming again!" Ember groans as she puts up her shield to protect herself.

"Just when I thought I'd be able to isolate a part of PreCure when they were alone..." Ruida grumbles as she warps into the room. "then the other has to be there--but that doesn't mean I can't battle both of you!"

"If you think we're going to give the Rainbow Note we have to you, think again!" Ember snaps.

Ruida sighs. "Very well then--if you're going to be stubbron about it, maybe I should get tougher!" With that, she snaps, prompting the Urusainaa to bind Ember in wires.

"Let Ember go!" Glacier demands as Ember struggles to get free.

"Trying to bind me, are you?" Ember growls. She glows red, which causes the wires binding her to snap, breaking her free. "I'm not giving up that easily!"

"Suit yourselves." Ruida warps away, leaving PreCure to deal with the Urusaiina.

"How'd you do that?" Glacier asks as she delivers an ice tinged punch.

"I'm not really sure--maybe it was my anger at this Urusainaa intruding on your dreams!" Ember replies as she dodges more sound waves. Glacier distracts the Urusainaa long enough to wrap it up in some stray fabric lying on the floor.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal microphone and healing what damage was caused.

Ember puts a hand on Glacier, who is breathing heavily from fatigue. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." Yuki wheezes. Ember helps her friend up and they return to the karaoke room.

"Everything okay in there?" Mr. Boukeno calls as he checks the karaoke rooms.

"Everything's fine, Dad--Yuki was just a little shocked from all the excitement earlier, so I took her in here to calm down." Homura explains as she and Yuki emerge from the room.

"That's good--you still want to go on with your audition?" Mr. Boukeno asks.

"Actually, I'm going to wait a little while on my dreams of stardom..." Yuki explains. "I at least want to finish school first."

"Okay then--just let us know if you change your mind again." With that, Mr. Boukeno goes off to tend to another prospect.

"So you're not accepting that contract?" Homura is surprised.

"How can I, especially when two worlds are at stake?" Yuki wonders. The girls laugh with both joy and relief--maybe PreCure isn't splitting after all.

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]

[NEXT WEEK: "A third pegasus? The guardian of PreCure"]


	9. Episode 9

A line of people forms at a video game store somewhere in Tokyo, each of them eager to receive an advance copy of the game plastered on building sized posters of a familiar elven boy clad in green and surrounded by eight gemstones: The Legend of Zelda: The Sacred Gems. Aiden is among this line as he gives his payment to the clerk, who gives him a gold DS with the three triangle Triforce design on it. "Thanks for pre-ordering...you will receive an e-mail notice when the game ships." she tells him.

"Thanks so much!" Aiden smiles as he skates away. _Can't wait to show this to Homura!_ he smiles. _I'm sure she'd find it beautiful!_

He is snapped from his thoughts when he sees a yellow light streaking in his direction! "Whoa!" he yelps and shields himself from the light as his new DS magically flips open, allowing the light to land in the top screen, sending the small console flying towards the ground.

Luckily, Aiden catches the DS before it can land on the pavement. That was a close one...wonder what that light was? He gingerly opens the DS, and it blips to life, depicting a yellow pegasus on the top screen. "Hi-eiko!" she giggles.

_Funny, I don't remember Zelda having a yellow pegasus as a character..._ Aiden balks at the pegasus' appearing. He decides to pinch his arm to see if he's dreaming, but the sharp pain he feels seconds later confirms that this is not a dream.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

We join Aiden as he skates down the street. _Great--my special DS has a little pegasus inside--I wonder what she wants or where she came from?_ He is snapped from his thoughts when he sees the little pegasus flying alongside him. "Look, who are you, and what do you want?" he asks the pegasus.

"My name is Eika--and I come with urgent news for you. Will you listen?" the pegasus asks.

Aiden pinches himself again, only to feel a sharp pain. _Okay, so I am not dreaming..._ "Okay, Eika...tell me all you can tell me."

"In my world, we are protected by eight crystals shaped like music notes." Eika explains. "Two of my friends protected the crystals, and when evil ones attacked my world, they took the crystals and fled here, awakening the legendary fighters named PreCure."

Aiden sighs. _I have got to stop watching so much anime..._

[Episode title: "A third pegasus? The guardian of PreCure!]

Elsewhere, Homura and Yuki are walking down a street with Hinote and Kouri by their sides. Suddenly, Hinote perks up and looks in the direction of the shopping district. "She has come-hino..."

"Who?" Homura is confused.

"Remember Eika, the pegasus of light we told you about-hino?" Hinote asks.

"Hinote senses she has arrived in the Green Plains-kori." Kouri explains. "Although exactly where, we don't know."

"So if she's here, the guardian must be close by." Yuki agrees.

Back with Aiden and Eika, Eika studies the Triforce design on the gold DS. "What's this design-eiko?"

Aiden racks his mind for a way to explain "The Legend of Zelda" to Eika. "Well, in this world, there is a fantasy game you can play on devices like this--it's about a young man that bears this design on his left hand--as a sign of his bravery."

"Fascinating--pity it is only fantasy on the Green Plains-eiko." Eika sighs. "But it is a perfect analogy to how you relate to PreCure." She forms a triangle-like shape comprised of three circles--one with a flame, one with a snowflake, and one with a light burst. "The flame and snowflake are PreCure--and you are the light ball-eiko. Just as the light ball is over the other symbols, you watch over PreCure from behind the scenes, and help them if they need it-eiko."

"So essentially, they do the dirty work of fighting, and I only step in if they need me?" Aiden is confused. "But I'd be toast without powers!" He pictures himself in a PreCure like outfit and giggles.

"It's not funny-eiko!" Eika snaps. "We need to find my friends, Hinote and Kouri-eiko! They are guarding PreCure."

"Okay, where were they last you checked?" Aiden asks as he gets up to skate away.

"Aiden!" Homura calls as she runs up close to him, Hinote not far behind.

"Eika!" Hinote flies to Eika and hugs her.

"Hinote!" Eika replies.

"What's going on?" Homura and Aiden look to see Yuki approaching, with Kouri not far behind her.

"Oh Eika, you're safe!" Kouri smiles as she hugs Eika.

"Okay, hold everything!" Aiden sighs after the introductions have finished. "Could one of you be so kind as to explain what is going on here?"

"Let's go to Cafe Firelight--we'll talk over tea." Yuki suggests.

"Good idea!" Aiden agrees. _Maybe a hazelnut mocha ought to calm my nerves..._

Inside the cafe, Homura, Yuki, and Aiden are the only customers--the pegasi have retreated to the DSes to be safe. "See, not long after we received our DSes, we were each visited by Hinote and Kouri." Homura begins. "They told us that their world and ours was being attacked by an evil known as the Black Realm."

"And the only way to save both worlds was to collect eight Rainbow Notes--in our world, what they sang was just fantasy--the Eight Melodies from 'Mother'". Yuki continues. "But in the pegasi's world, the same song has immense power."

"Mm-hm--makes sense." Aiden replies. "So essentially, we need to piece together the Eight Melodies to save the world."

"Exactly." Yuki smiles.

"However, I'm gonna need a little proof PreCure exists." Aiden interjects as he takes a sip of his drink.

Eika emerges from her DS. "You'll know soon enough--you've helped them before and didn't even know it-eiko!"

Aiden sighs. _That's not very helpful...._

[CM break]

A few days later, Aiden and Keiko skate through the park. "Did I show you the ring I received for my birthday?" Keiko asks, snapping Aiden from his thoughts about Eika and PreCure.

"You got a ring for your birthday? Lemme see!" Aiden admires the teardrop shaped emerald set in white gold for a moment. "It looks very nice on you--I'd hate it if some crook stole it!"

"So this one is one of PreCure?" Ruida appears before Aiden and Keiko, levitates Keiko's ring to her, and places a black egg-like object into the emerald. "Then allow me to disable her power!"

"What's happening?" Keiko gasps as her ring mutates into a humanoid like being with rings for its head, body, and legs.

"KEIKO!!!" Aiden screams as the Urusainaa whacks Keiko away.

Homura hears Aiden's scream off in the distance. "Aiden's in trouble!" She motions for Yuki to follow her through town and into the park, where Aiden is cornered by a ring-Urusainaa.

"Run, you guys!" Aiden pleads as he frantically looks for a way to escape.

"No, we're going to help you!" Homura counters.

"But how?" Aiden swallows hard as he is bound in the Urusainaa's gemstone coils.

"Watch and learn!" With that, the girls jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps into the grass. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

Aiden is shocked by what he sees. _No way! Homura really is one of PreCure!_

"Heads up!" Ember delivers a fire tinged kick to Aiden's bindings, breaking Aiden free. "Get to somewhere safe, we've got it covered from here!"

"But I want to help you!" Aiden protests. "You helped me, so I want to help you back!"

"Just do what Cure Ember says." Eika assures Aiden. Aiden sighs and retreats to a tree, where he watches the battle unfold.

"GAH!!!" Glacier is suddenly wrapped up in sapphire bindings. Ember runs to help, but is soon wrapped in ruby bindings.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you, PreCure?" Ruida sneers as she warps before PreCure, who are struggling to get free. "I think you know the drill by now--give me the Rainbow Note you hold, and I'll let you go..."

"Never!" Ember shoots back.

"Hey!" Aiden calls from the tree, getting Ruida's attention. "Let them go!"

"What good can you do to save them?" Ruida giggles. "They'd make fine trophies for me to show to Lady Dischord!" She turns to the Urusainaa. "Take care of the boy first!" With that, she warps away as the Urusainaa fires topaz bindings towards the branch Aiden is clinging to. Aiden covers his head and closes his eyes in preparation for the end...

"Star Beam!" Suddenly, a stream of rainbow stars comes flying at the topaz stream, making it disappate. Aiden opens his eyes and gasps when he see who sent the attack: Eika! "I am your guide, so of course I have to help you-eiko!" she smiles.

"Think you can free the girls?" Aiden asks as he gestures to PreCure struggling down below,

"With pleasure! Star Beam!" With that, another larger stream of stars goes flying at PreCure, breaking them free from their bindings.

"Eika, you've done it again, hino!" Hinote heaves a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Eika!" Kouri agrees

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal ring and healing what damage was caused.

"What happened?" Keiko asks as she comes to.

"I dunno, but I found your ring under one of the tables in the grass." Aiden replies as he gives the ring to Keiko.

Homura smiles as Keiko accepts the ring. _If it hadn't been for Aiden and Eika, we would've had a huge problem on our hands!_ She sees Aiden's gold DS lying on a nearby table and lays a hand on it. _Thank you, Eika--you're amazing!_

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "The case against Ruida! The Black Realm among us!"]


	10. Episode 10

WHAT???" Bryant balks in surprise. "There's a third pegasus? I thought there were just two!"

"I'm not kidding!" Ruida protests. "Just as I was about to take PreCure here to the Black Realm, another pegasus appeared and shot rainbow stars at me, freeing PreCure!"

"A most interesting turn of events..." Yende muses. "My question is, who is this pegasus and how does it relate to what we curently know about PreCure?

Lautia then warps into the room. "What's all this about a winged horse?"

"Ruida claims to have found a third winged horse that rescued PreCure just as she captured them." Yende explains to Lautia.

"Really?" Lautia is intrigued.

"I was so close to catching PreCure!" Ruida adds. "Then that third winged horse came!"

"It would help all of us and Lady Dischord if you could somehow make it appear again." Bruyant explains as he brings up an image of Eika. "Once we know what it is capable of, we can capture it, the one it's connected to, and PreCure."

"Great idea!" Lautia smiles.

"I'll do it!" Ruida volunteers. "And this time, PreCure will not escape!"

[OP: "DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)"]

We join Homura, Yuki, and Aiden by a table not far from the cafeteria, doing homework. "It's been a week or two since Aiden befriended Eika, another pegasus from the Crystal Plains." she narrates as we see scenes of Aiden and Eika's first meeting in a flashback. "While he was initially overwhelmed when first told about our quest and his role within it, so far he's been doing a great job protecting us." We see Eika freeing PreCure before returning to the present.

"So, have you guys heard about the uproar concerning our big English exam?" Aiden asks.

"No, what happened?" Yuki asks, piqued.

"Based on my understanding..." Kaede adds as she joins the others at the table. "One of the eighth grade English teachers brought the answer key to the test with her while she was overseeing the computer lab on Monday, and it mysteriously disappeared while she was helping a student. Furthermore, she saw a student--I believe her name is Rui--place something round inside the answer key. Whether that has to do with the disappearance of the answer key, I'm not sure, but so far, no one has claimed responsibility, and the school is offering a reward of extra credit on all exams to whoever finds it."

"So Rui took the answer key?" Homura is confused.

"No--a teacher claims she saw Rui place something inside or onto the answer key--that's what led the staff to assume that she took the answer key, leaving her as the prime suspect." Kaeade explains before getting up to leave. "If I find out more information, I will let you know."

"Thanks, Kae-sempai!" Homura waves goodbye as Kaede disappears into the crowd, leaving them the only ones in the study area some minutes later.

"Good thing we all have study hall this period..." Aiden smiles as he takes out his gold DS.

Hinote appears from the red DS seconds later. "Interesting books you have here-hino..."

"We were answering the questions in them, but then the news about a missing answer key ruined my will to work." Homura explains.

Kouri emerges from the blue DS at the same time Eika appears. "What's going on-kori?"

"Allow me to fill the horsies in..." Aiden assures the girls. "See, in our world, when the wise ones want to see how much we know about something, they give us a test on it. Only the wise humans are allowed to see the answers, which they use to determine how we did on the test."

"I see-eiko..." Eika replies.

"That's why the school is so worried about a test's answers when they are missing." Yuki continues. "Sometimes a student finds them when they are not supposed to and gives away the answers."

"That that isn't fair to those that put in an effort-hino!" Hinote notes.

"It isn't, which is why they harshly punish you if you cheat." Homura explains.

"What I don't get is the claim that Rui put something in or on the answer key...." Aiden muses. "Is there more to Rui than we know?"

"I'm pretty sure there is-eiko, and we can learn about Rui's true form if we first find the test answers." Eika assures Aiden.

[Episode title: "The case against Ruida! The Black Realm among us!"]

That evening, the girls and Aiden meet outside the school building. "We have found that the leader of the Black Realm, a being known as Lady Dischord, has four advisors that form a shield around her to protect her from hearing the Eight Melodies-hino." Hinote explains to Aiden. "So far, PreCure has only dealt with the weakest one, who has been masquerading as a student among you-hino."

_At least red horsie shares my suspicions..._ Aiden thinks.

"Part of the mystery is whether or not this being has planted a monster in the missing test answers-eiko." Eika continues. "so our objective tonight is to find both her and the test answers."

"How are we going to get inside the school to start looking?" Homura wonders. "The school's locked by now."

"Not for long!" Eika conjures a star shaped key and a number of other items before giving the key to Homura. "This is the Star Key--it can open any door-eiko!"

"Nice, an infrared sensor!" Aiden smiles as he looks at a binocular-like device, which shows him the infrared pattern of the three pegasi when he looks in it.

Yuki examines a box-like device with a white fingerprint sensor--when she finds Aiden's fingerprints on the infrared sensor and looks at them through the white sensor, it beams back an analysis of his fingerprints. _Fascinating..._

"You've thought of everything, Eika!" Homura laughs as she unlocks the back entrance with the Star Key.

"I have one list thing to give you-eiko..." and Eika conjures three small walkie-talkies. "This will allow you to talk with each other even though you are miles away."

"Let's go inside..." Aiden motions for the girls to follow him inside, where they wind through the halls for a while until they arrive at the computer lab where the answer key was last seen.

"Yuki and I will check and make sure it wasn't left behind in here." Homura offers as she accepts a fingerprint analyzer from Aiden.

"I'll check the classrooms to see if it wasn't left in one of them by accident." Aiden explains. "The code if you need help from me is 'Shining Star'"

"Understood." Yuki replies as Aiden departs.

The girls waste no time dusting for and analyzing the different fingerprints around the monitor's desk, but none of them appear to match Rui--just the number of monitors that are on duty each day.

Yuki is about to give up when she thinks she sees a female figure with features similar to Rui wandering the hallway. _Could that be who I think it is?_

[CM break]

Meanwhile, Aiden enters the eighth grade exam hall and dusts for fingerprints around the teacher's desk. After looking at them with the fingerprint analyzer, he sighs whe he sees that the prints around the area only match the teacher and one of her assistants.

"Any luck-eiko?" Eika asks.

"Nope." Aiden sighs as he puts away the fingerprint analyzer. "Let's go see how the girls--" Suddenly, a growl gets his attention, so he fishes out the infrared sensor and flicks it on. "Who's there?"

"We're here, if that assures you at all..." Homura begins as she enters the room with Yuki, who is carrying what fingerprints the girls have found.

"I heard a growl before you two came, so there's definitely something else here..." Aiden notes as he studies another unfamiliar heat pattern located by a window in a shadowy corner.

Yuki fumbles for her flashlight keychain and flicks it on, revealing one of the exam papers--or what an exam paper would look like with muscles, firey red eyes, sharp teeth, strong legs, and blades for appendages. She screams in surprise, but Aiden tosses a chair at the Urusainaa, buying the girls time to escape. The Urusainna, meanwhile, tries again and again to destroy the chair, but cannot cut through the metal and plastic.

With Aiden distracting the Urusainaa, the girls jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps into the grass. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Ember! Paper burns when exposed to fire, so try and kick it!" Aiden suggests as he grapples with the paper-Urusainaa by throwing another chair in its direction.

"Hah!" Ember tries to kick the Urusainaa, but it puts up a blue shield, rendering Ember's attack useless.

"You thought defeating my pets would be that simple, did you...." Ruida smirks as she warps into the room. "It's smarter than that."

_So Rui really IS the being that PreCure's been fighting all this time!_ Aiden is shocked once he puts two and two together. _But what would she want with an answer key for an important exam?_

"We've said it before and we'll say it again--we're not giving the Rainbow Notes to you, ever!" Ember barks.

"Stubbron as always...maybe I ought to kidnap your friend here to get you to talk." Ruida muses as the Urusainaa picks up Aiden and prepares to cut his throat with a paper blade. "Tell me where the Rainbow Notes are, and your friend will live--refuse, and he will die. Is that a deal?" she sneers as she watches Aiden try to get free.

Glacier grunts. "Aiden's helped us many times before, and you have no right to kill him!"

"What has he ever done to you?" Ember agrees.

_Eika...where are you when I need you?_ Aiden silently pleads, ever aware of the paper blade looming inches from his throat.

A flash of gold gets Ruida's attention, and a stream of rainbow stars comes flying at the Urusainaa. "Star Beam!" Ruida gasps and warps away as Eika flies into the room. She fires more rainbow stars as the Urusainaa drops Aiden, which destroys its paper blade, and sends it flying backwards.

"You saved me, Eika!" Aiden weakly smiles as he eases himself to his feet.

"Anytime-eiko!" Eika smiles.

Kouri flies up to Aiden and notices a few scrapes and small gashes dotting his arms and legs. "The Urusainaa must've roughed you up a lot to get wounds this bad-kori..."

"I have gotten worse wounds before." Aiden replies as he tries to get up.

"Hold still--Kouri will see to it you're good as new-hino." Hinote urges Aiden to lie down, allowing Kouri to examine his wounds.

After studying the small gashes and scrapes on Aiden's body, Kouri envelopes Aiden in blue light and commands "Healing Snow..." After a few tense seconds, Aiden gasps as he sees snow falling around him, despite that he is inside a building. That, and the snow is falling on his wounds, making them disappear in a strangely soothing warmth.

Ember, meanwhile, sees the Urusainaa starting to get up, and takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal piece of paper and healing what damage was caused.

"Is everyone okay?" Aiden asks as he looks around the trashed classroom.

"I think so..." Homura replies as she and Yuki return and begin helping Aiden clean up the mess.

"The good news is, we found the missing answer key-eiko!" Eika reports as she unearths the missing answer key from the mess.

"Although, do we know if Rui took it or not?" Yuki wonders.

"Oddly enough, no one took it at all." Aiden replies. "It turns out that while we were busy chasing down Rui, Eika found it in one of the computer labs' trash cans, and we were going to take it back here when we got attacked. It seems the teacher on duty in the lab on Monday accidentally let it fall in the trash." he explains as he sets the answer key by a stack of exams on the teacher's desk.

"So is the school's offer for a reward for nothing?" Yuki asks.

"Probably not, but I wouldn't mind some extra credit for finding it!" Homura smiles, making everyone laugh.

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]

[NEXT WEEK: "Dreaming among the stars! A Rainbow Note on our field trip!"]


	11. Episode 11

A black haired girl watches as students file into the planetarium at the Kyoutan Museum of Discovery. _Our show on constellations is becoming quite popular..._ she smiles as the last of the eighth grade files into the huge dome.

In the audience, Homura and Yuki take seats close to the middle of the dome. "I've been to the museum many times, but never have been in the planetarium..." Homura notes.

"It is said that Kyoutan boasts the largest planetarium dome in Japan." Yuki replies. "Only two domes in America are larger." Homura's eyes widen, impressed. _If I ever get a chance to go to America, I want to see those!_

The chatter hushes as the lights go down and an image of the night sky appears on the screen as a soft spacey melody begins. "Space...for millenia, mankind has wondered what lies beyond the stars." a male voice narrates. "But even in ancient times, some stars appear to form images in the sky--what we know as constellations. But constellations are more than a group of stars that make an image--the stars that create them have equally fascinating stories themselves."

Before the male narrator can continue, a female voice suddenly sings _Raise your voices!_, but it is barely heard over the triumphant fanfare that heralds the start of the show.

Aiden signals Yuki from the next row down. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Yuki asks, confused.

"Something that sounded like a girl singing." Aiden whispers as the spacey fanfare calms down again.

Homura then hears the same voice clearly singing _Raise your voices!_ as the music fades out. _No way! A Rainbow Note can't possibly be here!_

[OP: "DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)"]

In the Black Realm, Bruyant reports to Lady Dischord. "My lady, I have detected one of the Rainbow Notes singing inside an enclosed space..."

"You understand that we can't handle the Rainbow Notes ourselves?" Lautia cautions as she warps into the room, with Ruida not far behind. "If we were to try and pick them up, we would be paralyzed by their song, plus there is the risk of running into PreCure..."

"So since we can't pick up the Rainbow Notes, why can't we use that to lure PreCure and their guardian into a trap?" Ruida suggests.

"An interesting proposal..." Lady Dischord muses. "Bruyant, show me where this Rainbow Note is." Bruyant nods, and brings up an image of a planetarium.

[Episode title: "Dreaming among the stars! A Rainbow Note on our field trip!"]

Some time later, Lady Dischord's four guardians are gathered in the throne room. "Now, Ruida...tell me your proposal." Lady Dischord begins.

"I have figured out that PreCure and their guardian are collecting the Rainbow Notes so that they can destroy us and the Realm." Ruida explains. "However, I have long wanted to capture PreCure and bring them here to be destroyed before they destroy us."

"A noble goal indeed." Yende smiles.

"Since we know a Rainbow Note is in that enclosed space, all three are likely to be present there--so why not unleash an Urusainaa and catch all of them at one time?" Ruida suggests.

"Very clever!" Bruyant is impressed.

"If you can do this, you'll be handsomely rewarded, Ruida..." Lady Dischord begins. "But if they defeat you, let your wounds remind you of how strong the power of light can be." she cautions.

"I won't let you down!" Ruida smiles as she steps through the image of the planetarium, transforming into Rui on the way.

"Good luck!" Lautia calls after Ruida.

In the Green Plains, Ruida wastes no time scrambling from a bush and into the museum. _Now where could that place Bruyant showed me be?_ she grumbles as she walks through the nature exhibits on her way to the planetarium.

Eika, meanwhile, is watching from behind a flower in one of the indoor gardens. _A being from the Black Realm!_ she things as Ruida walks by in disguise as Rui. _I have to warn Aiden!_ With that, she flies outside towards the planetarium.

[CM break]

Homura looks up at the dome above her as the male narrator continues talking about the constellation Orion. Betelgeuse has already been discussed at length, and now Rigel is the next topic: "Rigel is the sixth brightest star in the sky--it is so bright, it lights up several dust clouds in its vicinity, the most notable being the Witch Head Nebula. " The nebula is pointed out on the screen, but before the narrator can continue any further, a large star-shaped being crashes into the auditorium, causing screams and gasps in the crowd.

Homura dives under her seat as the Urusainaa smashes a few empty chairs. "Hinote, I need you to come out, now!"

"You too, Kouri!" Yuki calls as she too crawls under her seat.

"It's not safe to engage the monster from the Black Realm while there are other people present-kori!" Kouri screeches. "The last thing we want is for innocents to die-kori."

"Then how are we going to become PreCure and battle it?" Homura is concerned.

"Couldn't we find a way to stop time or something?" Aiden agrees.

"That reminds me..." and Kouri charges a blue light in her front hooves. "Time Freeze!" At this, the blue light engulfs the entire room, freezing the entire auditorium just as it was a few seconds before, save for herself, Hinote, the Urusainaa, the girls, and Aiden. "There--I've frozen time at the moment just before the Urusainaa attacked--but hurry, it will not last forever-kori."

"Let's do it!" Homura calls. With that, the girls jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps before the star-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

The Urusainaa fires some black stars at PreCure, but they just barely make it out of the way before they impact the walls of the auditorium, leaving several large holes.  
Aiden, meanwhile, slips out from under a chair and crawls back to where he was sitting minutes earlier. "I think I see something behind my chair!" he reports. Sure enough, a light blue music note shaped crystal hovers in the space between Aiden's chair and the next row. It glows for a moment as it sings _Raise your voices!_ before fading again.

The Urusainaa screams as it hears the Rainbow Note sing, making the room shake for a moment. "It appears that Urusainaas don't like the melodies of the Rainbow Notes either..." Glacier notes.

"Cures! Catch!" With that, Aiden heaves the Rainbow Note at Cure Ember. The Urusainaa lumbers towards the flying Note, but Ember beats it in a burst of speed, catching the Note in her hands as the Urusainaa crashes into the wall.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a plastic star and healing what damage was caused.

_Later..._

"Everyone okay?" Aiden asks as he looks around the frozen planetarium.

"I think so..." Homura groans as she gets up--barring her, Yuki, Aiden and the pegasi, everything else is stopped at the moment before the star Urusainaa attacked.

"Aiden!" Eika flies in through a window. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay! But...why is everything stopped-eiko?"

"Kouri froze time so PreCure could have a chance to defeat the monster from the Black Realm and retrieve the Rainbow Note-hino." Hinote explains.

"I don't think the Time Freeze is going to last much longer-kori!" Kouri gasps. "Hurry and put the light blue note in the Score of Colors-kori!"

Yuki inserts the book game card in her DS, summoning the Score for Hinote. Homura hands the light blue note to Hinote, who carefully sets it in the top left indentation of the right page, under the indigo note. The two notes sing _Raise your voices!_ and _Sing a melody of..._ before the Score disappears.

Satisfied that they've found two Rainbow Notes, Homura leads Yuki back to their seats in the planetarium before time starts again, where the show continues as normal. Yet questions still linger in Homura's mind: _If Rui didn't sign a permission slip to come, how did she get here to the planetarium? What would've happened if Kouri didn't stop time?_

Yuki gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. _Don't worry, Homura--we'll learn the truth about Rui and the attack here soon enough._

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]

[NEXT WEEK: "Hikari's discovery! Keep this a secret!"]


	12. Episode 12

"Bye, nee-san!" Hikari smiles as Homura hugs her before she departs out the door.

"Be good, okay?" Homura replies. "I'll be home from the movies by six."

"Okay!" Hikari replies. After waving goodbye to her sister one last time, she troops upstairs in hopes of finding something to do.

As she troops upstairs, she notices Homura's DS lying on the bed in her room. Hey...nee-san left her DS here... Her first thought is to come inside and play with it, but decides against it. _She always takes it with her...could there be something more to it I don't know about?_

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

Hikari tiptoes into Homura's room. _Maybe now that nee-san's not here, I can play the DS for a while!_

Outside, Ruida sends an Urusainaa egg into a basketball lying by a hoop in the driveway of the Boukeno house. _Maybe I can lure out one of PreCure in their own home!_ she smirks as she warps away.

Hikari, mainwhile, turns on the DS and is about to settle in with New Super Mario Bros. when Hinote appears on the top screen. "Hello-hino!"

"GAH!!!!" Hikari gasps. _Weird...I don't remember Mario having a pegasus as a character!_

[Episode title: "Hikari's discovery! Keep this a secret!]

Hikari peeks at the DS. "A-are you a friend of nee-san?"

"You could say I am a friend of your sister-hino." Hinote replies. "It is my job to protect her while she is on her mission to save your world."

"The world's in trouble?" Hikari is piqued.

"You may not realize it, but some evil creatures want to take away all the music and happiness in your world and turn it into a place filled with noise and despair-hino." Hinote explains. "If we don't find the eight Rainbow Notes we've hidden in this world, we can't scare the bad creatures away-hino."

"What's so scary about a song?" Hikari wonders.

"See if what we've found so far sounds familiar to you at all..." With that, Hinote summons the Score of Colors and opens it, where the two Rainbow Notes inside sing _Raise your voices!_ and _Sing a melody of..._

Hikari instantly recognizes the song. "That's the Eight Melodies...but I thought that song only worked in a video game."

"Well, that same song in my world has the power to drive away evil, among other things." Hinote explains as he puts the Score away. "So it is vital your sister find them all-hino."

"So what is your home like?" Hikari asks.

"I think you and your sister would enjoy a visit-hino." Hinote replies. "The weather is always nice, it only rains for a short time, and there's much treasure to be found-hino."

"Are there princesses or dragons in your world?" Hikari is interested now.

"Not so much princesses, but we do have dragons--they are very wise, so you must first bring treasure as payment-hino." Hinote replies.

Hikari giggles. "Come on...I want to show you around here--so you'll know where everything is while you're staying with nee-san."

[CM break]

"Here it is, Hinote...our back yard." Hikari smiles as she gestures to the expanse of fenced in grass before him. A pool is close by, and a swing set sits at the bottom of a hill.

"It's beautiful..." Hinote smiles. "Can we go swimming?" he asks as he spots the pool.

"Oh no...not while Mom, Dad, and nee-san are away. We can swim later, though!" Just before Hikari can get comfortable with Hinote, a basketball with large feet and stubby hands crashes through the fence leading to the yard, making Hikari scream in fear.

Hikari's screams are heard just as Homura, Yuki, and Aiden arrive. "An Urusainaa!" Yuki gasps.

Homura growls. _Of all the places for the Black Realm to attack, they picked my house!_

Aiden jumps and tries to battle with the Urusainaa. "Cures! I'll distract creepazoid here!"

With that, the girls run behind a tree. Once sure they are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps before the ball-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

Hikari shudders as Aiden and PreCure grapple with the Urusainaa. "Help, someone!" The Urusainaa senses Hikari and throws Aiden aside.

"I'll save you!" Hinote dives before Hikari and forms a red shield around her. "Infernal Bastion!"

"Wha..." Hikari is impressed. She touches the shield, where it feels warm to the touch.

"This shield is made of low grade flames, where it will protect you from that monster." Hinote explains.

Back with PreCure, Glacier delievers one ice tinged kick into the Urusainaa, but it bounces away. Ember then delivers a flame tinged punch, making it bounce away again.

"Fascinating...since it was made from a ball, the Urusainaa is prone to being hit directly." Glacier notes.

"There's an idea!" Aiden notes. "Why don't you bat it back and forth to wear it down?"

"Got it!" Ember calls as Glacier whacks away the Urusainaa from the shielded Hikari. An odd game of catch begins as Ember and Glacier whack the Urusainaa back and forth, wearing it down with every hit.

Once Glacier hits the Urusainaa into a tree, Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a basketball and healing what damage was caused.

"You saved me, Hinote!" Hikari hugs Hinote as the red shield disappears. "How can I ever repay you?"

"It was nothing-hino!" Hinote smiles.

"How did you find Hinote?" Homura is curious.

"Well, I was going to use your DS to play my file on 'New Super Mario Bros.' when he just appeared and said hi." Hikari explains. "I was surprised, but then he told me all about why you were fighting monsters like what possessed our basketball."

Homura smiles, glad that Hinote and Hikari are getting along well. "Hikari...will you promise not to tell Mom and Dad about Hinote?"

"If both our world and his are in danger, I won't tell anyone!" Hikari replies. "It'll be our little secret!"

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "Exam showdown! Ruida's last stand!"]


	13. Episode 13

Lady Dischord paces the floor of the throne room. "Ruida, I acknowledge that you have made a few strides against PreCure, but your eagerness to please me is what gets you into trouble."

"But I really really want to capture PreCure!" Ruida protests.

"I know you do, but you have underestimated their power." Lady Dischord replies. "I will give you one last chance, and if you are wounded this time, let that serve as a reminder of how strong the power of light is."

Ruida sulks for a moment. _They've probably figured out my cover by now, so I've withdrawn from the human school as a precaution--but I will prove Lady Dischord wrong, if it's the last thing I do!_

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

The school hums with activity as the students go inside to begin classes for the day. "It's been a week or so since the answers to the English exam today disappeared, but although it turned out that the exam was in the trash the whole time, there was a rumor going around that Ruida--or her alter ego, Rui--placed something in or on the exam." Homura narrates via voiceover as we see a flashback of Episode 10's battle for a moment. "Now that Yuki, Aiden and I know Ruida's true identity, I can't help but worry that she will crash the exam as revenge for the incident with the test answers."

"Hey, Homura!" Aiden snaps Homura from her thoughts. "Nervous?"

"A little..." Homura stammers as she opens her locker and retrieves her books.

"If you studied the material and read both books we've covered, you'll do just fine." Yuki assures her.

"It's not that..." Homura protests before motioning for Yuki to come closer. Once Yuki is within whispering distance, she whispers "I think Ruida might crash the exam as revenge for what happened on our expedition for the test answers/" Yuki's eyes widen in surprise--could that actually happen?

[Episode title: "Exam showdown! Ruida's last stand!"]

In the English classroom, the teacher waits for everyone to take their seats. Once the chatter settles down, she begins handing out a set of papers to each student. "Here are your tests, you may begin."

Homura starts by filling in some answers, struggling all the while to remain focused. _I'm scared--what if Yuki and I are attacked right here in our classroom?_ She brushes it off as her overactive imagination. _Nah, that only happens on TV..._

Just then, the intercom buzzes as the principal comes on. "Attention students and staff--an intruder has been reported inside the building--please keep your classes in the classroom until the all clear is given."

The teacher immediately quiets the nervous whispers. "Just keep working on your exams."

Homura is about to resume taking her test when the door bursts open, revealing Ruida in the doorway. "What do you want?" she demands.

Ruida smirks. "A showdown, that's what!"

Aiden watches in horror. _I have a bad feeling about this..._

[CM break]

Homura and Yuki dash down the hallway. "We have to lose her somehow!"

"There's no hiding from me now, PreCure!" Ruida retorts as she levels a locker or two with dark energy.

"This way!" Aiden leads the girls into the athletic complex and whistles for Eika.

"Star Beam!" Ruida is surprised by Eika's attack and is knocked back into the gym floor, making a horrifying screech.

Meanwhile, Homura and Yuki dash for the girls' locker room, breathing heavily. Once sure they are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the basketball court before Ruida, who is clearly in pain as she gets up. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"So you have arrived, PreCure..." Ruida sneers. "Now I will have my revenge!" With that, she forms a ball of dark energy in her hands and fires it at PreCure. Ember jumps away, but it hits Glacier point blank, making her scream in pain as the energy paralyzes her. Ember delivers a flaming kick to Ruida, breaking Glacier free.

"Are you okay-kori?" Kouri asks as she heals Glacier of her wounds.

"Yes...but now I'm really mad--Ruida has gone far enough!" Glacier screeches. With that, she makes a running jump and kicks Ruida in the back minutes before she can paralyze Ember.

"Thanks!" Ember replies as she flips back by Glacier's side.

As Ruida struggles to get up, it dawns on her that her time is drawing near. _Of all the ways to be defeated, I did not expect this! Now Her Ladyship will never forgive me!_

Ember notices Ruida's prone form and charges a fireball. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a ice ball. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The elemental balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Melodic Fever!" With both Rainbow Notes singing in the background, small waves of fire and ice go flying from the girls' hands and engulf Ruida, making her scream in agony from the fire and ice.

"I won't go down that easily!" Ruida snaps, and sends a wave of darkness at PreCure, silencing the Rainbow Notes for a moment. The girls grit their teeth and focus some more, but the strengthened wave is barely strong enough to handle the wave of darkness that counters it.

Suddenly, Glacier hears two familiar voices: _Raise your voices!_ _Sing a melody of..._. "The Rainbow Notes!"

"They came to help!" Ember smiles. They focus even more, and the wave of fire and ice is made even larger and more colorful. Ruida, however, howls in pain when she hears the two melodies of _Raise your voices!_ and _Sing a melody of..._. As Ruida is enveloped in light, Ember thinks she sees a staticy wave trying to emerge from Ruida's body for a split second before the Melodic Fever drives her back into the Black Realm.

"We did it..." Glacier wheezes.

"Ruida's defeated..." Ember agrees.

"Oh, but don't let your guard down-hino...there are still three more of Lady Dischord's guardians remaining." Hinote cautions.

"But what was that staticy thing that tried to come out of Ruida's body just before the end?" Aiden is curious.

"That was Ruida's true form-eiko--all beings of the Black Realm are really static waves." Eika explains. "They can take human form if they have the strength to do it-eiko"

"That explains why Ruida looked human all the times we encountered her." Glacier notes.

"I'm just glad this is over for now..." Ember is heaving from the fight. "Let's go back and finish our tests."

_In the Black Realm..._

"Ow, that hurts..." Ruida grimaces as Yende tries to bandage her wounds from the battle.

"If you would just hold still, I would be able to help you!" Yende is not amused by Ruida's constant squirming and cries of pain.

"Yende's right--moving around will only made it hurt even more" Lautia adds as she arrives to help Yende.

"See what happens when you trifle with the light?" Lady Dischord adds. "It leaves you with great wounds."

"But I want to--" Ruida starts to protest but is jolted back into a lying down position by a sharp pain.

"You are in no condition to fight, Ruida." Lady Dischord replies. "Light wounds will take some time to recover from."

"That, and your wounding has weakened the shield around Our Lady." Bruyant scolds as he arrives.

"While it is true Ruida's defeat has weakened the shield a little, I still cannot hear the song of the Rainbow Notes" Lady Dischord muses. "So Bruyant...I want you to enter the human world and deal with PreCure."

"It would be my pleasure, my lady." With that, Bruyant departs.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "City in the dark! Enter Bruyant!"]


	14. Episode 14

Chatter and laughter fill the air as Homura and Yuki arrive in the shopping district. "It's been a few days since Ruida crashed our English exam, allowing Yuki and I to finally defeat her." Homura narrates s we see a scene of the Melodic Fever banishing Ruida. "Yet through all that, I still managed to pass the exam. Mom was so proud of me finally passing an English exam, she gave me 9500 yen to spend however I wanted."

"So what are you going to get with your exam funds?" Aiden asks as he meets the girls at the main square of the shopping district.

"I'm not really sure..." Homura confesses as the threesome enter a mall and walk towards the music store.

Bruyant, mainwhile, is browsing through the various CD racks, looking for the perfect CD to infect with an Urusainaa. _Let's see how PreCure can hold up to an opponent that tracks their every move..._

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

Homura, Yuki and Aiden first walk into a clothing store. While Aiden isn't too thrilled about critiquing the girls, the pegasi take that opportunity to play hide and seek in the racks of clothing. Miraculously, none of other shoppers know the giggling in the various racks are not children.

Aiden realizes that any of the pegasi could be discovered if they play too rough, so after finding Eika hiding in a shirt sleeve, he explains "We don't want people to find you three here, but if you do, hold very still."

"Why-hino?" Hinote is curious.

"This way, anyone that does find you will think you are a toy." Aiden explains.

"Why would I want to be a toy-hino?" Hinote is confused. Aiden sighs. _Red horsie's a bit more thickheaded than I thought..._

Meanwhile, a crowd cheers for Bruyant as he steps on a stage somewhere in the mall. _While I'm busy winning over the other humans with my golden voice, here's hoping it lures PreCure too..._ With that, he sends an Urusainaa egg into a random CD somewhere in the music store.

[Episode title: "City in the dark! Enter Bruyant!"]

Back in the clothing store, Aiden sighs as the girls parade before him and the pegasi in different outfits. "The cowgirl look isn't you..." he tells Yuki as she emerges from the fitting room clad in Western attire.

"That's too dark-kori..." Kouri tactfully rejects a deep red shirt on Homura.

"That's a little better-eiko..." Eika comments on a daisy print sundress Yuki is modeling.

"Yes, the flowers look good on you-hino." Hinote agrees.

"A little brighter blue than that." Aiden comments on another shirt Homura is wearing. But before the girls can emerge with their next outfits, Aiden notices that Hinote is gone. "Wha?"

"Is this pegasus doll yours?" A woman walks up to Aiden with Hinote in her arms.

Aiden sweatdrops. _I TOLD Hinote to stay close to us..._ "Uh, yeah..." he replies as he takes Hinote. "This guy's gonna be a present for a friend, and I must have dropped him somewhere--thanks for finding him." he replies.

"You're most welcome." With that, the woman departs.

"Next time, when I say 'Stay close', I mean 'Stay close', okay?" Aiden warns Hinote, who blushes as Homura and Yuki emerge from the fitting rooms and gather up the outfits they intend to buy.

"What happened?" Yuki is concerned.

"We almost got our cover blown when Hinote wandered off." Aiden explains as the girls get in line at the checkout desk. "Thankfully, a lady found him and thought he was a doll."

Homura is about to comment when a growl gets her attention. "When we're done here, who's ready for lunch?"

"A wonderful idea." Yuki agrees as Homura pays for her outfits.

Once the three friends depart, they pass the stage from before, where a crowd is listening to Bruyant, in disguise as a male idol, singing along with a techno rock beat _We're gettin' too close, too close! We're livin' in the danger zone-oh whoa! Too close for our own good!...._

[CM break]

We see scenes of the girls and Aiden in a few other stores before we see them arrive at the food court. "I'm starved!" Homura smiles.

"Me too!" Aiden agrees as the three friends get in line at a hamburger kiosk. But before they can order, the lights suddenly blink out. "Funny--who turned out the lights?"

A loud roar pierces the air and shoppers scatter as a humanoid being seemingly made from CDs and music notes lumbers down a pathway, leveling planters and tables as it makes its way through the dark.

"This way!" Aiden motions for the girls to follow him into the hallway leading into the bathrooms as the emergency lights flash on. "I'll stand guard outside, you two go change into battle mode!"

"Right!" Homura replies as she and Yuki dash into the girls' bathroom. Once sure they are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura leads the way out of the bathroom and steps onto the floor, noting the leveled tables dotting the darkened mall. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

The CD Urusainaa roars and sends two blades that look like music notes at PreCure, but they jump away, making the blades shred two banners in the process. But Glacier gasps when she looks behind her seconds later: the Urusainaa has magically appeared there even though it was right in front of her minutes earlier! She runs away, but the Urusainaa is waiting for her no matter where she runs to!

Ember isn't faring very much better--Every time she tries to ambush the Urusainaa from above, the Urusainaa is right by her, making her flee. "Just how are we supposed to get a hit on this creep if it knows where we are going to be at any moment?" she asks Hinote.

Hinote watches for a moment as the Urusainaa chases PreCure. "It can only follow one target at a time, so have one distract it and meet the other close by-hino." he suggests.

"I'll distract it!" Glacier volunteers.

"Actually-kori, it can track two targets at once, so it's better to stun it first so it can only follow one target." Kouri corrects Hinote, making him sweatdrop.

"It won't be expecting this! Star Beam!" The Urusainaa balks as a wave of rainbow stars slams into it, buying Ember time to dash away from the food court and down a pathway before hiding behind a bench. Once the Urusainaa comes to, it spots Glacier and begins chasing her.

"Ember, Glacier's leading the creep to your position, so get ready!" Aiden reports on Ember's communicator.

"Right!" Ember leads Glacier behind the bench with her, then charges a red ball of light, oblivious to the Urusainaa charging at both of them. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a blue ball of light. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The light balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Lumen Concerto!" With the two Rainbow Notes singing in the background, small waves of red and blue light go flying from the girls' hands, turning the CD Urusainaa back into a normal CD and healing what damage was caused.

Bruyant grimaces in defeat from behind a planter. _PreCure is obviously more resourceful then I thought..._ he muses as he warps away.

"You okay, guys?" Aiden and Eika catch up to the girls as the lights begin to blink back on.

"I think so..." Ember wheezes. "But my question is, how did the Urusainaa know where we would be at any time? Could its master be another Black Realm guardian?"

"If it is a guardian-eiko, it is one that knows how to find a target well." Eika cautions. "So be on guard-eiko."

Ember swallows hard. _So this new opponent can track us? What if he's watching our every move right now?_

Glacier notices Ember's pained face. "You don't have to worry, we've defeated him for now." Ember heaves a sigh of relief as the two of them de-transform into Homura and Yuki.

"You might want to call your family and check on them..." Aiden suggests as he hangs up a cell phone. "I have power at my place..."

"Ooh, good idea...." Homura fumbles for her own cell phone and dials her home number.

After ringing twice, Hikari picks up on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hi, Hikari...it's nee-san." Homura begins. "Is the power back on at the house?"

"Yeah, it came on just a little while ago...was it scary shopping in the dark?" Hikari asks, making everyone laugh.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "Yuki's new pet! Kouri's jealousy!"]


	15. Episode 15

"Here you go..." Homura smiles as she brings some apple slices to Hinote.

"You know, I'm a little worried about Kouri-hino..." Hinote muses.

"Why?" Homura wonders.

Hinote thinks for a moment on how to explain his dillema, then continues "She just doesn't seem interested in playing with me-hino. Perhaps she's caught an illness-hino?"

"Well, the best way to find out what's wrong with Kouri is to ask Kouri directly." Homura replies. "So let's go find her." With that, she motions for Hinote to follow her downstairs.

Hinote sighs as he listens to the thumping and shuffling of Homura preparing to go out. iI hope Kouri's all right, and that she will be willing to talk-hino.../i

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

We hear the whir of Rollerblades for a moment before Homura glides to a stop before a fountain ringed with flowers. Kouri stands on the fountain, glumly staring at her reflection in the deep blue water.

Hinote flies over to the fountain and lands next to Kouri. "What's wrong-hino? You don't seem yourself today-hino."

Kouri brushes away a tear. "I'm afraid...Yuki doesn't love me anymore-kori."

"How can that be? She's treated you well before-hino..." Hinote is just as surprised.

"Well, ever since she got a new creature a few days ago, she's been playing with it more than she plays with me-kori." Kouri replies.

"So Yuki has a pet now?" Homura wonders. iKouri's probably afraid or jealous of the new pet.../i

"If you'll show us this new creature, we can try to convince Yuki to show you she still likes you-hino." Hinote suggests.

This brightens Kouri's mood a little. "Okay, I'll take you to see the new creature-kori."

[Episode title: "Yuki's new pet! Kouri's jealousy!"]

Homura leads Aiden and the pegasi up to the front walk of Yuki's house. "I'm back-kori." Kouri calls.

Yuki looks up from tending to a small gray kitten. "Oh, maybe now you'd be interested in getting to know Ran?" she asks Kouri. Kouri just shies away as the kitten mews and swats at Kouri.

"Actually, I think Kouri might be jealous of your new kitten..." Homura notes.

"What makes you say so? I mean, I figured that she might be afraid of the kitten at first, but I didn't expect her to be so withdrawn like this." Yuki wonders as she sets a robotic mouse toy on the ground and turns it on, making it run in erratic paths for Ran to chase.

"Well, Kouri might see your taking care of the kitten as a sign you don't like her any more." Aiden suggests. "However, she may also just need time to adjust--welcoming an addition to the family, be it human or animal, is a big change."

"You're right--perhaps I can try to introduce them under supervision." Yuki suggests as Ran pounces on the robotic mouse, sending it flying into a bush.

Bruyant, however, finds the robotic mouse as he passes by the house. iInteresting creature.../i he sneers as he infects it with an Urusainaa egg.

Meanwhile, Yuki sets the kitten on the ground before Kouri. "Kouri, this is Ran, my new kitten." Kouri just looks away, but Ran just mews and tries to bat Kouri.

"Get away-kori!" Kouri pleads, but Ran still tries to swat at her.

"No, no..." Yuki pulls Ran away just before she can lunge after Kouri, who has flown up into a tree. "Kouri is a friend, not a toy." she explains.

Aiden and Homura sigh. "No wonder Kouri doesn't like Ran..."

[CM break]

Later, Yuki tries again to introduce Kouri and Ran. "Now, play nice with Kouri." she reminds Ran, who mews in reply. Kouri is about to run away when suddenly, she hears a rustle in the bushes. "What's that-kori?" Her question is answered seconds later as the robotic mouse toy--only several times larger and with angry red eyes, sharp teeth, and lasers in its paws, comes lumbering into the yard.

"Oh my..." Even Eika shudders at the size of the Urusainaa.

"This way!" Homura leaps over a laser and leads Yuki into a storage shed, narrowly missing some lasers on the way. Once sure they are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps into the grass to challenge the mouse-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

The Urusainaa begins chasing PreCure around the yard in hopes of catching them, but Ember manages to swing over a branch and kick it in the face, making it lose track of Glacier for a few seconds. Glacier, meanwhile, flips over it and kicks it in the back, making it stumble backwards. It quickly recovers, however, and soon, PreCure is again trying to shake off an opponent that can track their every movement.

Aiden, however, sees a pattern in the Urusainaa's movement. "Hey...isn't the creep moving the same way Ran's mouse toy was earlier?"

"It is-eiko!" Eika agrees. "Most likely because its creator made it from that toy-eiko."

iIt has to be the same guy that attacked us at the mall, I know it!/i Homura worries as she dances erractically about the yard, trying to avoid the lasers the Urusainaa shoots.

Suddenly, the Urusainaa spots Ran huddled in a corner, and begins charging a larger laser.

Glacier spots the laser and gasps. "Ran!"

Kouri spots the laser too--her first thought is to ignore it, but suddenly reconsiders. iThat creature thinks I'm a toy, and Yuki must love it very much...so even if Yuki loves it more than me, that means I still have to protect it, if only for Yuki''s sake!/i She grimaces angrily and dive bombs the Urusainaa as she breathes a blue white beam flecked in blue sparkles. "Mystic Chill!"

"No way!" Aiden is shocked.

"Kouri saved Ran!" Glacier is just as surprised as the attack sends the Urusainaa flying against a tree.

Ember notices the dazed Urusainaa and charges a red ball of light. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a blue ball of light. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The light balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Lumen Concerto!" With the two Rainbow Notes singing in the background, small waves of red and blue light go flying from the girls' hands, turning the mouse Urusainaa back into a normal robotic mouse and healing what damage was caused.

"Mew!" Ran playfully jumps at Kouri, grateful for her rescue.

Yuki smiles at Kouri's giggles. "I think Kouri's starting to warm up to Ran..." she notes as the three friends go inside the house.

"You mean you still like me too-kori?" Kouri asks as she scrambles away from the inquisitive Ran. Ran isn't sure what to make of Kouri flying over to a dresser, but she eyes the little blue pegasus curiously.

"I would never hate you because I love Ran--I love both of you equally." Yuki replies. Kouri sweatdrops when she realizes that Yuki wasn't even playing favorites at all, but she is suddenly surprised by Ran climbing on the dresser and quickly flies away. Everyone else laughs as Ran and Kouri chase each other.

[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]

[NEXT WEEK: "Designing new tactics! How to tackle this opponent?"]


	16. Episode 16

We join Homura pacing the floor of her room. "Ever since we've defeated Ruida, we've been having to deal with more advanced Urusainaas." she explains via voiceover as we see flashbacks of the previous two episodes' battles. "Both times, they came from electronic items, and were able to track our locations."

The phone snaps Homura from her thoughts. "Nee-san, telephone!" Hikari calls.

"Coming!" Homura comes downstairs and takes the phone from Hikari, who then departs upstairs to play. "Hello?"

"Hi, Homura--Aiden here." Aiden begins. "Have you been thinking about those creeps we've been fighting?"

"Yes...my big question is, who could be creating them?" Homura wonders.

"The fact is, both of them made of tech stuff and having the ability to track us has to be more than coincidence." Aiden replies. "So if you wanna get Yuki and drop by my place for a while, we can do research on the creeps and who could be making them."

"Great idea! I'll see you in a little while!" With that, Homura hangs up and troops to the closet to get ready. _Maybe Aiden will shed some light on why the Urusainaas can track us now...  
_  
[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

Aiden watches from his front stoop as the girls arrive. "You're here, great!" After exchanging a few hugs and greetings, the girls follow Aiden into his room, where we see his PC open to a word processor document explaining what the girls have fought so far and how that compares to the last two battles. Eika is before the keyboard, typing the last few words of a sentence.

"A most fascinating device-hino..." Hinote is enamored by the PC.

"It can do many things, but you have to be careful with it-eiko." Eika cautions as she scrolls the document to the top.

"Now--we know that so far, the creeps we've fought were all made from simple objects." Aiden begins.

"And were not very smart." Yuki adds with a giggle.

"Yeah..." Aiden blushs at Yuki's observation. "We also know that the last two battles we've faced were against much smarter creeps that were made from tech stuff."

"My question is, who could be making these new Urusainaas?" Homura asks.

[Episode title: "Designing new tactics! How to tackle this opponent?"]

Aiden brings up a simple animation of a monster chasing a rough representation of PreCure. "We've learned these creeps can track both of you--or whoever their maker decides to tell it to track."

"But every time we try to launch a surprise attack, it spots us." Homura notes.

"Remember how we defeated the Urusainaa in the mall?" Yuki asks.

Homura thinks for a moment, then the lightbulb goes off in her mind. "Yeah--we used one to lure it to the other!"

"They may be smarter than what you've seen before, but there's a slight flaw in the creep maker's plan." Aiden explains as he adjusts the animation for one girl to break away at a point Eika has set. "It can only follow one target at a time, so unless something else crosses its field of vision, you can still do ambushes from behind or above." He runs the animation to illustrate his point.

"I remember hearing in a self defense class to injure your attacker and getting away at all costs." Homura interjects.

"That same advice might apply to the Urusainaas." Yuki smiles as she watches one of the animated girls ambush the monster from a tree.

"How so?" Homura asks.

"If we treated the Urusainaa and put something between it or poked it in a sensitive area just like a human attacker, we could still try what we have used before." Yuki explains. "We don't have to discard strategies that have worked yet--we only need to tweak them to account for our opponent's newfound tracking ability."  
Hinote sees the moon starting to rise outside. "Can we go on a walk-hino?"

"I don't see why you guys can't come along--it's my routine to take a stroll at night. "Aiden replies as he shuts the PC down.

[CM break]

We join the group as they walk out onto a walking trail just outside town. At first, all is quiet, but Homura suddenly hears a phone ringing. After checking her cell phone to be sure she has not received a call, she hears the ringing again, freezing her in her tracks.

"I'm not expecting any calls..." Yuki assures Homura.

"Me neither...let's just keep going." Aiden agrees. Homura sighs as she runs to keep up with her friends. _I could've sworn I heard a phone ringing..._

Her question about the ringing is answered with a phone booth-like monster with phone receivers for hands comes crashing from the bush. Yuki's first thought is to scream, but the monstre's roar, which sounds like a phone ringing, quickly drowns it out.

"Come on!" Homura leads Yuki behind a tree as Aiden ducks behind a lamppost. Once sure they are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the pavement to challenge the phone-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"So you two are the famous PreCure..." Bruyant smirks as he appears beside the Urusainaa. "I was expecting something a little more..." He pauses to think of the right word for a moment. "majestic?"

"We may not be awe inspiring, but we will fight like a large being!" Ember shouts back. "I hope you are prepared to face the anger of a raging fire!"

"And the unforgiving chill of a winter storm!" Glacier adds.

Bruyant chuckles. "All bark and likely no bite--keep an eye on them, Urusainaa...I want the girls alive." The Urusainaa roars and lumbers close to PreCure.

"Just remember, treat the creep no different from a human predator!" Aiden calls before he dashes to a bush with Eika.

Bruyant, meanwhile, sees Aiden fleeing and forgets about PreCure. "After the boy!" he commands. The Urusainaa starts lumbering in the direction of the bush, but it is not expecting being poked in the eye with a stick. Glacier tinges the stick with ice, then uses it as a sword, distracting the Urusainaa as Ember runs around the back of the Urusainaa.

"Star Beam!" Eika's attack causes the Urusainaa to slip and fall, making it a prime target for Ember to kick it from above. Glacier stabs it in the side with her enchanted stick, rendering it unable to move.

"Mystic Chill!" Kouri swoops in and pins the Urusainaa down further as it helplessly tries to get up.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a phone booth and healing what damage was caused.

Bruyant grimaces. "You may have won today, PreCure, but I will have those Rainbow Notes sooner or later!" With that, he warps away.

Aiden runs up to the girls. "Everyone okay?"

"I think so..." Homura wheezes as she stands up. "Now we know just who it is we are up against..."

"Plus, we now know a few ways to counter an Urusainaa that can track us." Yuki agrees. "However, if the remaining Guardians tried to pick up the Rainbow Notes, wouldn't they be gravely injured?"

"That's right-kori, so you needn't worry about the Notes being taken." Kouri assures Yuki.

Homura narrates via voiceover as we watch Homura lead the way back to town. "So now that we know a tech loving Guardian is behind these smart Urusainaas, I think we're ready to counter him--but who am I to think that he'll try to counter us with new tactics of his own?"

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: Trouble in paradise! A Rainbow Note on the beach!]


	17. Episode 17

The sun shines down on a beach as Homura, her family, Yuki and Aiden arrive at a majestic hotel building. "After dealing with Urusainaas that learned to track us, and discovering who created them..." Homura narrates via voiceover as she helps Hikari out of the car. "I decided to invite Yuki and Aiden along on our family vacation to the beach this year--hopefully we can get a little R and R after all these attacks." We see an image of Bruyant as Homura helps her father unload luggage from the car.

"I'm so glad we don't have to go any farther!" Hikari sighs with relief as she brings over her small suitcase. Yuki is not far behind with her luggage.

"I can't wait to do a little surfing myself." Aiden agrees as he unloads his luggage and a surfboard from the car.

"I'm gonna build the biggest sandcastle in the world!" Hikari giggles as she leads Yuki out into the sand.

As Homura follows her family inside the hotel, we see a soft red flash of light deep beneath the sand and hear a female voice singing _Take a melody..._

{OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

"Here we are, gang." Mr. Boukeno smiles as he opens the hotel room door, revealing a spacious bedroom suite with enough space to safely accomodate six people.

"Which bed is ours?" Homura wonders.

"I claim this one!" Hikari announces as she bounces on the wave patterned comforter on one bed.

"No jumping on the beds, Hikari." Mrs. Boukeno sternly reminds Hikari.

"Aw..." Hikari flops on the bed in defeat.

Once the adults depart to bring in more items, Homura opens her DS. "Hinote, we've arrived."

"We're here, Kouri." Yuki agrees.

"Eika, come see where we'll be staying this week." Aiden coaxes.

Eika is first to emerge. "It's beautiful-eiko!" she smiles as she flies over to a window to look out at the beach

"Is this the sea-hino?" Hinote is equally impressed.

"I bet the beach in your world is just as fun as the ones in ours." Hikari smiles.

Kouri, however, is a little groggy. "I didn't know the sea was a long way-kori..."

"Back home, the beach is no more than an hour away by flight-eiko." Eika explains.

"It would certainly beat a long ride in the car." Homura groans.

We then see a flashback of Homura, Yuki, and Aiden in the back seat of a car singing "99 Bottles of Juice on the Wall" to annoy Hikari for a moment before we return to the group in the hotel room. "Yeah, then you wouldn't annoy me with dumb songs the whole way there!" Hikari snaps.

Homura is about to make a comeback when she hears a female voice singing _Take a melody..._ from outside. _Did I just hear a Rainbow Note out there?_

[Episode title: "Trouble in paradise! A Rainbow Note on the beach!"]

"Okay, that's everything." Mr. Boukeno heaves as he sets down a cooler and wipes his brow.

"Can we go out on the beach yet?" Hikari begs.

"Well..." Mr. Boukeno is unsure.

"They've been in the car for a long time, hon..." Mrs. Boukeno reminds her husband.

"Okay." Mr. Boukeno sighs as he lies down on another bed. "You guys can go play on the beach as long as you want--just be back here before dark."

"YAYYYYY!!!!!" Homura leads the charge for the bathroom.

We join the group on the beach some minutes later. Aiden has wasted no time in catching a wave, Yuki is tanning in a beach chair by a palm tree, and Homura is helping Hikari with a sand castle.

"If you don't mind my asking, what's so annoying about that song Homura and the others were singing in the car-hino?" Hinote asks

"It goes on forever, and it's the same melody over and over and over again!" Hikari explains. "By the time we got here, I wasn't sure how much more I could take!" Hikari complains.

A female voice interrupts Hikari's rant with _Take a melody..._ "Did you guys hear something?"

"What did it sound like?" Yuki asks.

"Sounded like some girl singing 'Take a melody'..." Hikari replies before spotting a small radio controlled boat in the box of beach toys. "Oh boy! Dad charged my new RC boat!" With that, she dashes out to the sea as Aiden comes in from a wave, forgetting about the odd singing completely.

[CM break]

Homura smiles as Hikari pilots a small boat through the water from the shore. _I think she likes that little boat...Dad got it for her not long before we left._

After guiding the boat in seemingly hundreds of small circles in the sea, Hikari guides it back to the shore. "Okay, I'm gonna go a little farther down the beach to look for seashells." Hikari explains as she sets the boat in the sand to dry out.

"Don't go too far away." Homura cautions as Hikari starts down the beach, picking up seashells all the while.

Just then, Yuki hears a female voice sing _Take a melody..._ under the sand. "Is that..."

"It can't be!" Homura races to a spot farther down the shore and helps Yuki dig through the sand, but they only get half done before Hikari's boat--only now with a ghastly face on the prow--comes roaring in their direction.

"Oh my..." Even Kouri is surprised by the monster's arrival.

"This way-hino!" Hinote leads the girls to an empty shed surrounded by palm trees and shuts the door.

"It's safe in here to transform-kori" Kouri agrees.

Homura catches her breath for a moment, relieved that Hikari is not close by to see the horror outside. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the sand before the boat-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"How nice to see you again, PreCure..." Bruyant sneers as he appears on the water by the boat Urusainaa. Perhaps you would like to give me the treasure you've found?" He gestures to the Rainbow Note that is partly uncovered by Glacier's feet.

"No!" Glacier snaps, grabbing the Rainbow Note from the sand and clenching it in her fist.

Homura recognizes what the boat-Urusainaa was created from. "How dare you create a monster from my sister's favorite toy?" she growls.

"Oh, so this radio controlled boat I infected with an Urusainaa egg was originally your sister's? How sweet." Bruyant deviously smiles. "I hope she doesn't mind if I borrow it for a little while--so I can destroy you both!" With that, he climbs aboard the Urusainaa and attempts to chase PreCure down the shore. Glacier attempts to make ice floes in the sea, but the boat Urusainaa plows right through them. To make matters worse, a tsunami generated by the Urusaina's waves soon towers over PreCure, threatening to drown them both.

"Where's Aiden when we neeed him?" Ember worries.

"Hey Cures! Surf's up!" Aiden calls from above as he weaves through the Urusainaa's wave. It howls in pain as the surfboard hits it, lowering the wave to where he can see the girls and safely disembark on the shore.

"If you try to attack the Urusainaa directly, you'll be injured-kori." Kouri cautions.

"I'll fix that!" With that, Eika forms a pair of light balls in her hooves. "Aura Shield!" Both balls then fly to PreCure and expand around them, seconds before an Urusainaa generated tsunami comes crashing on top of them.

Ember notices that she and Glacier are unharmed by the attack. "We're invincible!"

"That's true, but Eika's not very good at creating it yet, so I'm not sure how long it will last-hino." Hinote warns.

"Hurry and attack before the Aura Shield wears off-kori!" Kouri suggests. Ember and Glacier nod and make a flying kick at the Urusainaa, toppling it. Next, Glacier freezes it, and Ember sends it flying into a palm tree face first.

Glacier watches as coconuts rain onto the battered Urusainaa. "Let's finish it before it gets up again."

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a toy boat and healing what damage was caused. Bruyant warps away in defeat as the fire and ice clears and the Aura Shield around PreCure begins to disappear.

Hikari returns with some seashells a few moments later. "Oh, that's where my little boat went!" she smiles as the boat floats back to her, carrying the Rainbow Note. "Thank you for keeping an eye on it, nee-san!"

"Anytime!" Homura smiles. At the same time, she figures Hikari doesn't need to know the details of the battle that took place minutes earlier.

"Now, one of you needs to summon the Score-eiko..." Eika notes

Yuki inserts the book game card into her DS, summoning the Score of Colors. "Now, Hikari--give me the Rainbow Note, please-hino..." Hinote asks. Hikari complies, and Hinote sets the red note in the top left indentation on the left page. All three Rainbow Notes sing _Take a melody..._ _Raise your voices!_ _Sing a melody of..._ before the Score disappears.

Aiden sighs as the sun sets. "So much for surfing...."

Homura hears her mother calling in the distance. "Lighten up, we have a whole week to do all the surfing and exploring we want!"

This comforts Aiden a little. "Last one back to the room is a rotten egg!"

"You're on!" Hikari gathers her toys and leads the charge back to the hotel room, the pegasi in tow.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "Stranded! The house of intrigue!"]


	18. Episode 18

We join the group as they huddle in the car outside a majestic mansion, listening to the rain pelt the windows. "Despite an attack from the Black Realm at the beach, we've had a great spring vacation--but the way back's taken a scary turn--we've broken down in the middle of nowhere, but we found my aunt Minami's mansion close by."

"I've never been in Aunt Minami's big house before, nee-san." Hikari notes. "Will we have to stay there tonight?"

Homura sighs. She, along with the others, did not expect to break down, but makes the most of the bad situation. "I'm sure Aunt Minami will let us stay with her while Dad fixes the car."

Just then, a young lady in a large raincoat comes outside to meet Mr. Boukeno, with a male attendant offering an umbrella to him. Homura can see what looks like a kimono peeking from the raincoat.

"So how did your aunt receive her fortune, if I may ask?" Yuki wonders.

"She is a well respected artist, and her paintings have sold for high sums of money." Homura explains. "That, and the mansion has a lot of history to it."

"Like ghosts?" Hikari shudders.

"Ghosts or no ghosts, we're in for an interesting night." Homura replies as the woman motions for the family to come inside the mansion.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

"Wow..." Hikari is amazed by the size of the house and the ornate pattern on the carpet.

"Amazing!" Yuki is just as impressed.

"I'm glad you think so..." Minami smiles as a servant helps with her coat. A second servant helps the family inside and leads the adults to the parlor, leaving everyone else in the foyer.

Homura's DS shakes as Hinote appears. "Why didn't you tell me you had family in a castle-hino?"

"It's not quite a castle, Hinote, but it's the next best thing!" Hikari whispers back. "Better yet, nee-san says Aunt Minami's big house has a lot of history inside it, so we may see some ghosts!" Hinote isn't sure what to think over the possibility of seeing ghosts.

As the adults are with Minami, Kouri and Eika emerge from their DSes as well. "What's all this about a castle-eiko?"

"We're in my aunt Minami's mansion..." Homura explains. "She is a well respected artist and art appraiser, and many of her paintings are in high demand."

"So that's how she earned her fortune, but what about her castle-kori?" Kouri is just as fascinated.

"Mom says the mansion was built a hundred years ago, by friends of our great grandfather on Dad's side." Homura explains. "When he died, he left it to our grandparents, where they stayed on their honeymoon a few years later."

"Then Dad came along some years later, and they had to leave?" Hikari asks. Homura nods. "I wonder if there's any pictures of Grandma and Grandpa in here..."

[Episode title: "Stranded! The house of intrigue"]

Eika gawks at some of the statues in a hallway. "How pretty-eiko!"

"Beautiful-kori!" Kouri admires a vase nearby the entryway to the dining room.

Minami's footsteps startle the pegasi, making them retreat. "If you'd like to see some of my artwork, I can take you all to the gallery."

"Please, take us there!" Hikari begs.

"Come along, then." Homura, Hikari, Yuki, and Aiden follow Minami down the hall, around a corner, and up to a majestic doorway locked with an electronic lock. "This is the gallery entrance--the paintings and sculptures inside are protected by state of the art security." Minami explains as she swipes a card key through the lock, allowing the group access to a huge gallery. Many different kinds of paintings dot the walls, and some sculptures are also present.

Yuki notices a portrait of a young lady in bridal attire by the left window. "Is this your grandmother when she was young?"

"Yeah--that one's of Grandma on her wedding day." Homura replies. "Grandpa's portrait is across from it, on the right wall." She gestures to a portrait of a young man in a tuxedo on the opposite wall.

"I used some of their wedding pictures to create those portraits." Minami explains as she sets the card key on a table beside two other card keys. While she is distracted showing the group the various works of art, Bruyant's hand appears from a passageway and swipes the second card key.

[CM break]

Later, Homura decides to show Hikari Minami's gallery. "Aunt Minami said it was okay to look inside the special gallery, and left the key where I could find it in case you wanted to see the very special paintings."

Just then Hikari hears a thump in the hall. "What was that?"

Homura listens, but is relieved when Yuki joins them in the entryway to the gallery. "It was just Yuki..."

"And me, so you don't have to worry about any ghosts." Aiden adds as he arrives.

Suddenly, Hikari hears a roar and more thumping. "There it is again!" At that moment, the key to the gallery, albeit with yellow eyes, laser arms, and spindly legs, comes lumbering down the hallway. Hikari screams and runs away, but Homura stands her ground.

"Cures, go change while I deal with Key Creep here!" Aiden calls as he grabs the spare key and herds the key monster into the gallery.

Homura follows Yuki into one of the spare rooms nearby, with Yuki locking the door behind them. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the floor before the card key-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"I figured you would appear if I waited long enough..." Bruyant sneers as he warps into the room. "Pity you won't be able to enjoy these lovely pictures..."

"These pictures are my aunt's, and she'd be very sad if you took or destroyed them!" Ember shoots back. "They mean a lot to her."

"Is that so?" Bruyant asks. "Then I'll have Urusainaa destroy you two first before I take them!" With that, he warps away, leaving PreCure with the Urusainaa. The Urusainaa roars and fires a laser at PreCure in an attempt to "scan" them, but Glacier leaps off a table and kicks it in the back.

"Nice shot!" Aiden notes. He watches as Ember grabs a leather cord, but she can't lasso the Urusainaa because it is trying to find Glacier.

"Maybe that laser is the key to this Urusainaa's tracking ability-eiko--it scans what it wants to track to learn the target's location." Eika notes as Ember tries to kick the Urusainaa, only to narrowly miss being scanned.

"AUGH!" Glacier yelps as she is scanned and knocked to the floor, making some old pots and rugs come tumbling on top of her.

"Glacier!" Aiden runs to help free Glacier. With Aiden blocking the Urusainaa's path, the Urusainaa is stuck and can't get to Glacier. Then Ember spots the leather cord she abandoned earlier! Inspired, she lassoes one corner of the card section of the Urusainaa, making it crash to the floor.

"Thanks!" Aiden replies as he finishes freeing Glacier.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a key and healing what damage was caused.

Minami and Hikari enter the gallery seconds later. "What was all that noise?" Minami asks.

Hikari is confused. "Weird, I know I saw a monster in here!"

Minami just giggles. "Don't be silly, there's no monsters in here."

"Someone tried to get in and take the key that opens the way to your special paintings, Aunt Minami." Homura explains. "Fortunately, Yuki and I scared him away before he could take anything."

Thankfully, Minami buys Homura's ruse as she accepts the card key. "You're very brave, just like your father, and I'm relieved none of the paintings were taken...."

"Has Dad said anything about when the car will be fixed?" Hikari asks, changing the subject and forgetting about the Urusainaa completely.

"I just returned from speaking with him--he has diagnosed the problem and should have it fixed by morning's arrival." Minami replies. Everyone cheers.

"I'm so relieved to be going home-hino!" Hinote is especially relieved.

"We'll have quite a story to tell everyone when we get back to school." Yuki smiles, gently squeezing Homura's hand as a small gesture of friendship. Homura giggles and returns the squeeze, grateful that no one knows what really happened in the gallery.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "I have to perform again? Panic at the school play!"]


	19. Episode 19

I'm home..." Homura sighs as she comes inside the house. She narrates via voiceover as she removes her Rollerblades and puts them away. "We had quite an adventurous spring break--first the Black Realm attacked us at the beach, and then we got stranded at my aunt Minami's house. Not only that, the Black Realm attacked there too." We see scenes from the past two episodes before returning to Homura, who is now trudging upstairs. "And no sooner do I get back to school do I have to face my worst fear..."

"Why the long face, nee-san?" Hikari peeks from her room, concerned in the glum look on Homura's face.

Homura sighs. "I got a part in the school play...."

"Really?" Hikari is interested. "What story?"

"It's a Chinese folktale about a magic flute..." Homura explains. "and I have to play one of the two sisters."

"I think I know what story you mean..." Hikari smiles. "I've heard 'The Little Gold Flute' before, only every time I've heard it, it's a brother who has to save his sister."

"Well, Yuki's playing the other sister, and she's using one of her tin whistles as the magic flute in the story." Homura explains. "I'm not sure why the Drama Club changed it to two sisters."

"Do you have to say any lines?" Hikari asks.

Homura swallows hard and nods yes--Hikari guessed why she is so scared!

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

Later, Homura broods over having to say lines. _I know the teacher said everyone in class would have a part, but why do I have to say lines when she is well aware of my fear of performing?_

Homura's DS shakes and Hinote appears. "What's the matter-hino?"

"Well..." Homura thinks of a way to explain a play to her pegasus. "In a few weeks, we're all going to dress up in costumes and tell a story. Thing is, I'm scared of doing something before an audience."

"There was the talent show back in the fall-hino..." Hinote notes. "You did fine there.."

"Yeah, but in this case, my grade in the class is hanging on playing this part--if I ty to back out or delibrately do badly, I'll flunk!" Homura counters as she sets the script before Hinote.

Hinote skims over the script and doesn't see very many highlighted lines for Homura to say. "It'll be fine-hino--you don't have to say that much. Are Yuki and Aiden going to be in this performance too-hino?"

"Yeah..." Homura replies. "But that still won't make this any easier!"

[Episode title: "I have to perform again? Panic at the school play!"]

We join the group in Homura's room some minutes later. "Okay, I'm going to narrate up to your 'Mother my mother' line, and you say it when I give the cue." Aiden explains to Homura. "Got it?" Homura shakily nods yes.

"I hope you do better than I did at getting nee-san to say that line." Hikari sighs.

Aiden is unfazed, and begins reading his script. "A long time ago, in a place far away from here, there lived a mother and her daughter. Since the daughter loved the color red very much, she was named Akaiko, which means 'red child'. One day, as they worked in the fields, a great dragon flew down from the sky and snatched Akaiko in his claws. Akaiko's last words to her mother as she was carried away were..." He motions for Homura to say her line, but no speech comes.

"That's your cue-hino..." Hinote whispers.

Homura swallows hard and stammers in a fearful monotone. "Uh...Mother my mother, so dearest to me, someday my sister will come rescue me." Hinote nods in encouragement, but Aiden sighs.

Hikari notes Aiden's frustration. "Hey, nee-san said the line that time!"

"I know, but we need to have her say it not so nervously." Aiden explains.

Aiden's DS shakes and Eika appears. "In Homura's defense, she's afraid of saying it before anyone-eiko. That includes even us."

"Say..." Kouri has an idea. "Why don't we have Homura say it just to her reflection in the mirror-kori?"

"Great idea!" Hikari leads Homura into the bathroom. "Now, see if you can say that line just to your reflection--just pretend we're not even here." she coaxes.

Homura sighs--audience or no audience, she is still shaking in fear at the prospect of what she will ultimately have to do--say the line before hundreds of people. "Mother my mother, so dearest to me, someday my sister will come rescue me." she repeats to her reflection. _That didn't sound too shabby..._ she notes, unaware that she actually does have an audience--Yuki, Aiden, Hikari, and the pegasi are watching in the doorway. "Mother my mother, so dearest to me, someday my sister will come rescue me." she tries again, a little more confident. "Mother my mother, so dearest to me, someday my sister will come rescue me." she tries again, this time adding a little fear into the line--her character is being carried away by a dragon, after all.

Yuki smiles at Hikari and Kouri as Homura repeats her line with growing confidence. "It seems your idea worked!"

"I'm still worried she'll blank out on opening night." Aiden isn't so sure.

[CM break]

A few weeks later, the school auditorium buzzes with activity as families, friends, and students enter and take their seats. Homura, now clad in a red and gold kimono-like outfit, paces backstage. _This is it--opening night. If I get nervous about my lines, just pretend I'm saying them to the mirror..._ she reminds herself.

"If the Black Realm appears, you know what to do-hino..." Hinote interjects.

"I'm pretty sure we won't hear from them--just trying not to be nervous is bad enough." Homura sighs as she sees her family and Hikari take their seats in the auditorium.

"Eika will prompt if you forget anything." Aiden assures Homura as he is miced by a stagehand. Once the stagehand departs, Eika emerges and gets the script Aiden is reading from in order.

After a few minutes, the lights dim and a relaxing overture plays before the curtain opens, depicting a house, a field, and some mountains off in the distance onstage. Aiden then begins reading as the music fades out. "A long time ago, in a place far away from here, there lived a mother and her daughter." Akane emerges from the house, clad in a gold and white kimono-like outfit. "Since the daughter loved the color red very much, she was named Akaiko, which means 'red child'." Homura next emerges from the house set, and mimics planting seeds while Akane mimics pulling weeds. "One day, as they worked in the fields, a great dragon flew down from the sky and snatched Akaiko in his claws." Akane and Homura look offstage and feign fear as a loud whoosh approaches, then gets louder, then fades away as the lights go down. "Akaiko's last words to her mother as she was carried away were..."

"Mother my mother, so dearest to me, someday my sister will come rescue me." Homura yelps from the darkness, half nervous, half fearful.

Some sad music begins as the lights come up on Akane, who is now alone on the stage. "I have lost my only child...who could this sister be?" she says as the lights go down again.

"Very good-hino!" Hinote congratulates Homura as she returns backstage. Out of the crew's view, Bruyant has found the robotic dragon that Aiden is also going to voice, and sends an Urusainaa egg inside it.

Yuki, now clad in a deep blue and silver kimono-like outfit, waits for her cue as Aiden continues "Well, some time passed, and the mother had a second child, also a daughter. The child was born looking up at the sky in wonder, so she was named Aozora, or 'blue sky'. The mother wished for Aozora to rescue her sister, but couldn't bear to give her second daughter such a dangerous quest. So, for many years, she locked herself in her room and wept late into the night."

The lights come up on a set depicting the inside of a house, where Akane pretends to cry in a corner by stage right. Keiko, in character as a raven, dashes onstage, getting Akane's attention. "Your daughter's suffering way out there! Weeping in that dragon's lair! Ruby red stains upon her back, digging up rocks with hands so bare!" With that, she disappears as quickly as she appeared.

"Is it true I have a sister?" Yuki asks as she enters.

"You speak true, my love..." Akane replies. "Because she loved the color red so much, she was called Akaiko, or the red child. That evil dragon that has slain so many took her from me ten years ago."

Yuki walks over to stage left, picks up a long stick, and announces "I'm going to slay that dragon and save my sister! Then he will never harm our land again!" She slams the dowel onto the stage to illustrate her point, prompting some applause.

"Very nice-kori!" Kouri quietly applauds from backstage.

Aiden next narrates "Aozora left early the next morning, and walked for many miles." Yuki appears on the set of a mountain road with the dowel. "As she wound around a mountain road, she saw a large rock blocking the way--and if she didn't remove it, it would mean a potentially deadly fall." Yuki examines an imagined rock. "She thrust her stick under the rock and pushed with all her might, but the stick broke in the process!" Yuki pushes against the imaginary rock, but Eika bangs two pieces of wood together as the lights go down. When they come back up again, she has abandoned the dowel. "Then Aozora picked up the rock and heaved it into a nearby ravine." Yuki picks up the imagined rock and heaves it offstage as the lights go down again. "When Aozora looked in the place where the rock had been, she saw a tiny gold flute in the impression." The lights come back up on Yuki examining one of her many tin whistles. "After examining it for a moment, she blew a single clear note that rang through the whole valley." At this, Yuki blows a strong, clear D note that echoes through the theater.

Before Aiden can narrate the next part of the story, the dragon robot--only now with all the realism of a real dragon, comes slinking onstage. Some stagehands balk--the dragon isn't supposed to appear yet!

"What's going on?" Yuki is confused about the commotion. While the other cast members are panicking about the prop robot dragon coming alive without being directed to do so, the audience is enthralled, unaware they too are under threat.

Homura dashes onstage, concerned at how the stagehands are struggling to get the robot under control, but at the same time, the realism tips her off that the way the robot is behaving is a little off. "I think that's our cue to exit, stage right!" she gasps as she leads Yuki backstage. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the stage before the dragon-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"PreCure, I said that you were stronger...just give me the notes you hold, and I will torture you no longer." Bruyant intones as he appears beside the dragon Urusainaa, clearly mocking what the real dragon is supposed to say at this point in the play.

Glacier just says her next line. "Evil fiend, this is my bargain....stay at the bottom of the lake, and never do harm again!" Bruyant just smirks and disappears, leaving PreCure to deal with the Urusainaa.

Aiden, meanwhile, is panicking over what to do next. "Should I just keep narrating?"

"Go on-eiko--maybe you can guide PreCure through the narration!" Eika suggests as she steadies the script Aiden is reading from. PreCure, meanwhile, wait for their next cue.

Aiden swallows hard and reads his next line. "With that, the dragon sank to the bottom of the lake." As if listening, the Urusainaa obediently lies down on the stage. "Aozora took Akaiko by the hand...." Ember and Glacier hold hands. "and set out for home." PreCure begins walking offstage."They had not gotten very far when they heard splashing from the lake." PreCure gasps as the Urusainaa springs at them. "The dragon emerged from the lake, determined to kill the both of them." Ember squeezes Glacier's hand in fear as the Urusainaa flies at them.

Then Ember remembers she has a line to say too! "You go deep when digging a well, and you pull up roots when plowing a field...." she stammers, getting the Urusainaa's attention. Glacier nods and motions for Ember to say the rest of the line. "But while that dragon lives..." she growls, "to kind ways he will not yield!" With that, she hurls a flaming punch at the dragon-Urusainaa. Glacier follows that up with an icy kick as the audience looks on in awe.

As Glacier lands, she remembers she still has the whistle she is using as the flute in the story! She takes it from a pocket as she braces herself for Aiden's next line and the Urusainaa's next move.

"Hey..." Ember has an idea. Once Glacier comes closer, she whispers something to Glacier, who nods in response.

Aiden just reads his next line. "Aozora raced back to the lake's shore, playing the little flute all the while." At this, Yuki runs to face the Urusainaa and begins playing the Eight Melodies! The three Rainbow Notes the pair have found join in with the tiny flute at the appropriate time, making the Urusainaa writhe and scream in pain. Aiden just watches the scene in awe, completely forgetting his next line.

After a few renditions of the song, Glacier smiles at Ember as the Urusainaa slumps to the stage again. "Shall we?"

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a robotic dragon and healing what damage was caused, along with leaving a dragon skin like the script calls for.

The audience roars like the appearance of PreCure was part of the show, so Aiden narrates the last part of the play. "The two sisters returned home, Aozora carrying the dragon's corpse in her arms." Glacier cradles the skin in her arms as she and Ember walk about the stage for a moment, then the lights come up on Akane and the house set again. "When the mother saw her two children returning, she smiled and ran to embrace them." Akane feigns joy and runs to hug Ember.

Ember does likewise, but the attack still weighs on her. _So even though I'm not returning to the stage anytime soon, and the Black Realm thoroughly rewrote our play, I still had a good time facing that fear of performing._

Glacier smiles back. _I'm glad you think so, and hope you shake off your fear enough to be my costar again._

"They used the dragon's scales and bones to build a house, and its teeth as plowshares." Aiden narrates as Akane, Ember, and Glacier mimic building something. "And with those plowshares, they never went hungry again." The three girls mimic digging in dirt. "Yet Aozora kept the little flute with her, just in case she needed its power again." Glacier adds a little flourish on her instrument as Aiden adds "The end." With that, the curtain closes, ending the play and the episode.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody (Homura and Yuki ver.)]

[NEXT WEEK: "My father is home! Bruyant's rival!"]


	20. Episode 20

Kouri flies into Yuki's room with an envelope. "You got a letter today-kori..."

"Oh? Who from?" Yuki asks before taking the envelope. She smiles when she sees the return address. "Well! Dad is coming home from the movie set..." she explains as she opens the letter. "It's been so long that he departed to shoot on location in Ireland...I've missed him so much."

"What would your father be doing halfway across your world-kori?" Kouri is curious.

"As a movie director, he travels all across the world, filming scenes or gathering ideas for his next movie." Yuki explains. "One way we keep in touch is making short movies." She gets up from the table and walks over to an open PC, where she clicks on an icon of a film reel.

Kouri watches, bemused, at the short cartoon about a pegasus loosely based on her._I'd like to meet Yuki's father-kori...he sounds like an interesting person._

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

In the Black Realm, Lady Dischord addresses Bruyant. "Why have you not been able to capture PreCure? You're usually my most reliable guardian..."

"Maybe Bruyant's been goofing off?" Ruida weakly asks from her bed as Yende arrives to change the dressing on her wounds.

"I have been attempting to capture them, milady, but they appear to have outsmarted my Urusainaa's tracking ability." Bruyant explains. "And I want to know why!"

"Why must you insist on using technology, Bruyant? A natural Urusainaa would get the job done faster." Lautia giggles as she warps into the room.

"You stay out of this..." Bruyant grumbles.

"In fact, while you're busy finding the perfect gizmo to infect, I will have already caught PreCure with one of their own creatures." Lautia smirks. "And I will be able to say I caught them naturally." With that, she steps into the portal leading to the Green Plains, which comes out in a field nearby Yuki's house.

Bruyant grits his teeth. "I will be the one to capture PreCure, Lautia! Just you wait and see!" With that, he storms through the portal.

[Episode title: "My father is home! Bruyant's rival!]

Back at Yuki's house, a black haired man sets his suitcases on the floor before embracing Yuki. "My little girl..I'm so glad to see you!" he smiles.

"I missed you too, Dad." Yuki replies before her mother comes to hug the man.

"And who might this be?" Mr. Hanshou asks as Homura comes in the house.

"This is Homura, a friend of mine from school." Yuki explains.

Homura smiles and waves hello. "Yuki's told me a lot about you...can you tell us a few stories from the Emerald Isle?"

"Of course." Mr. Hanshou smiles as Yuki carries the luggage upstairs.

Later, the group is gathered around Mr. Hanshou's easy chair. "Not long after my last letter to you, I began having troubles with the actors--one scene was set in a bog, and the day we filmed, it was cold, misty, and rainy, which ruined the costumes."

"Did any of the actors get sick?" Homura is piqued.

"Yes--but luckily, most of them were able to recover after a day or two." Mr. Hanshou replies. "I managed to get the bedside scenes done while they were resting, even--that's called 'being resourceful'"

"You didn't get sick, did you, hon?" Mrs. Hanshou asks.

"Oh no, of course not." Mr. Hanshou laughs before presenting a small video camera to Yuki. "This is for you, Yuki--I hope you'll make some high quality shorts with it."

"Wow, thank you!" Yuki is touched by the gift. "I'm going to give it a try while you rest a bit--you must've had a long journey home."

[CM break]

"Okay, everyone in position?" Yuki asks.

"Why do I have to be the villian-hino?" Hinote complains as he toys with a small vampire cape.

"Oh, come now--you look cute in a cape." Kouri giggles as Homura puts a fairy costume on her.

"Aiden and Eika are going to love this..." Homura smiles. Ran is close behind, intrigued by the ribbons and bows on the costumes.

"Now where did the camera go?" Yuki wonders as she digs through the grass. Her question is answered as the camera--only now with wiry arms and legs, comes barging through a wooded area close by the house.

"Come on!" Homura leads Yuki back behind the house and into the garden, where they hide in a small shed. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass before the camera-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

Bruyant is about to answer with a comeback aboard the camera Urusainaa when another rumble startles both him and PreCure. "This way!" Glacier calls to Homura as PreCure dives behind a bush.

"Lautia!" Bruyant snarls as a flower-Urusainaa lumbers into the yard with Lautia aboard.

"Surprise." Lautia smirks. "How do you expect to find PreCure when they have already disappeared?"

"They have not disappeared, I will find them for you!" Bruyant protests. He is about to order the Urusainaa to search for PreCure when he sees that the flower Urusainaa is already on its knees and ruffling through the grass. The camera Urusainna panicks and begins searching through the grass as well, but both monsters are nowhere near where PreCure is hiding.

"Well, if youre so confident, why don't we propose a challenge--the Urusainaa who captures PreCure first, wins." Lautia offers. "We can watch from the safety of the Black Realm.

"It's a deal!" Bruyant replies, and both he and Lautia warp away, leaving both Urusainaas behind.

"How do you suggest dealing with two Urusainaas?" Ember wonders.

"Just lay low and see what they do now that they are alone--we don't want to alert either of them that we're here." Glacier whispers. Embe nods and watches as the two monsters frantically search for them.

After about an hour, the camera Urusainaa fires a laser at the flower Urusainaa in frustration, The flower Urusainaa blocks the laser with a vine, and lunges at the camera Urusainaa.

"They're fighting each other-kori!" Kouri is shocked as the two Urusainaas grapple with one another.

"Maybe you won't have to fight after all-hino." Hinote notes.

"Either way, it's Aiden and Eika that will be shocked when we tell them about this." Ember notes.

After a few tense minutes, both Urusainaas have managed to wrestle each other to the ground, but are too exhausted to get up. Ember notices the dazed Urusainaas as she emerges from the bush and charges a red ball of light. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a blue ball of light. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The light balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Lumen Concerto!" With the three Rainbow Notes singing in the background, waves of red and blue light go flying from the girls' hands, turning the camera Urusainaa back into a video camera, the flower Urusainaa back into a daisy, and healing what damage was caused.

"Yuki? Are you okay?" Mr. Hanshou dashes outside.

"Yes, Dad...some troublemakers from down the block were making a ruckus, and Homura and I scared them away." Yuki explains.

"That was very brave of you--if I'd had my camera with me, I would've filmed the confrontation." Mr. Hanshou smiles. "You're growing more and more confident each day...I'm proud of you, Yuki."

"Well, Homura's taught me a few things about being confident too." Yuki replies.

As Mr. Hanshou retrieves the camera, Homura gives Yuki a worried glance. _Why were there two Urusainaas this time?_

_I'm not sure, but we'll need to be on alert._ Yuki gives Homura a gentle squeeze as the two of them look out at the sunset.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: Legend of the Eight Melodies! A tale fom the Crystal Plains!]


	21. Episode 21

We join Homura in her room, watching a fantasy movie on TV. "After an encounter with two different Urusainaas at Yuki's house, I'm not only wondering about how they were created, but about the Rainbow Notes--how were they created?" We see a flashback of the previous episode's battle for a moment.

"Interesting show-hino..." Hinote notes as he glides onto Homura's bed. "What's it about-hino?"

"This movie's about a prince who has to help a elf create a mystical necklace by finding eight special gems." Homura explains. "It reminds me of our own quest."

"If you're curious about the Rainbow Notes, Kouri, Eika, and I will be glad to tell you more-hino." Hinote smiles.

Homura switches off the TV in a heartbeat--maybe learning about the Rainbow Notes will put her quest in perspective!

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

The group arrives on a hill just outside of town. "Come to think of it, I have a few questions about the Rainbow Notes too." Yuki tells Kouri.

"And me as well." Aiden is just as piqued.

"We're glad you all are curious to learn about the Rainbow Notes, and our world-hino." Hinote smiles as the group makes themselves comfortable.

"But before we begin-kori, understand that this could be a very long story, and we don't want to bore you-kori." Kouri cautions.

"I've read plenty of boring books before, so how boring could this be?" Homura assures Kouri.

"All right, but let us know when you've heard enough of the tale-eiko". Eika smiles.

"Got it...although if it is as epic as I think, I'll listen for as long as you need us to." Aiden chuckles.

"Very well--we'll tell you as much of the tale we can-hino!" Hinote smiles.

[Episode title: "The legend of the Rainbow Notes! A tale from the Crystal Plains!"]

Once the group is settled, Eika begins the story. "In our world-eiko, the royal family has a guardian pegasus named Utane, and in addition to protecting the king and queen, he is a skilled storyteller and singer." We swirl into a flashback of the castle from before, where a green pegasus trots out from the entrance. Various creatures, both real and fantastic, crowd around the pegasus as he arrives in the square leading inside the castle. Once the crowd has settled, he begins speaking in gibberish for a moment. "In fact, even his name foretold his talent--in your language, it means 'seed of song'-eiko." Eika explains via voiceover.

"So Utane is kinda like a bard?" Homura asks via voiceover. A mouse in the crowd squeaks "You spoony bard!" to illustrate Homura's point.

"You could say that, but Utane was anything but spoony-eiko." Eika giggles as the mouse is shooed away and the green pegasus continues to "speak".

"One year, Utane was asked to perform for eight days as part of the queen's birthday celebrations-hino." Hinote continues as we see the crowd of creatures cheering for a shadowed human-like being as the green pegasus leads the procession. "Each day, he would begin by singing a very special song that he used as a kind of prayer to the muses-hino." We watch as Utane lands on a balcony overlooking a large crowd and begins singing the Eight Melodies in gibberish.

"Something like an epic poet..." Yuki notes.

"Every time he sang that song, it would form a barrier around the castle that only let beings of the light inside-kori." Kouri picks up the tale as a we see a yellow barrier forming around the area where the crowd is. "On the final day, when the barrier dispeled, eight Note Gems formed at Utane's hooves--his song had become a set of Rainbow Notes-kori." We see Utane looking surprised as eight crystalline notes fall from the sky and land at his feet.

[CM break]

Later, the group is eating lunch on the hill. Yuki has set aside an ebook reader to use once the pegasi conclude their tale, but as she enjoys her meal, Bruyant takes the device and infects it with an Urusainaa egg.

Aiden, meanwhile, is gathering up the trash. "So how did a bard's song come to protect your world?"

"Well, not long after the queen's birthday that year..." This is as far as Kouri gets before Yuki's ebook reader, only now with wiry arms and legs and ghastly yellow eyes, comes lumbering over the hill. "Oh my..." Even Aiden is surprised.

"Come on!" Homura guides Yuki behind a tree. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass before the reader-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

The Urusainaa breathes an ink-like substance at PreCure, which they dodge. "What was that?" Glacier wonders.

Aiden looks again as Precure dodges another wave of the substance, and sees what looks like letters in the inky black substance. "It looks like this Urusainaa has literally eaten your words, Glacier..."

"What do you mean?" Glacier asks as she frreezes some of the substance.

"Look closer at the black stuff the creep is spitting at you guys." Aiden replies. Ember delivers a punch to the Urusainaa, looks again at the substance--not only can she see letters, but she also can see words!

Glacier notices her partner's shock at what the black substance really is. "Well, if this stuff really is words from the books I had stored in my ebook reader, do they say anything readable?"

"No...just gibberish and discouraging words." Ember explains before dodging another wave of words.

"Then if it's trying to attack us with discouraging words...." Glacier gets an idea. "Love!" she screams at the Urusainaa, which actually takes form in purple snowflakes and slams into the Urusainaa.

"Oh, love!" Ember adds. The Urusainaa screams as the purple flaming words burn into it.

"Peace!" Glacier sends another word that turns icy at the Urusainaa, only this word is made from pure ice.

"Aiden, you can help too-eiko." Eika suggests.

Aiden sighs--he hasn't counted on taking part in a literal war of words. He sighs and calls "Courage!", which takes form of pure light. The barrage of words continues for a moment:

"Hope!"

"Faith!"

"Happiness!"

"Truth!"

"Justice!"

"Joy!"

"Strength!"

"Power!" The onslaught of happy words quickly overwhelms the Urusainaa, making it fall to the grass with a thud.

Ember notices the dazed Urusainaa and charges a red ball of light. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a blue ball of light. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The light balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Lumen Concerto!" With the three Rainbow Notes singing in the background, waves of red and blue light go flying from the girls' hands, turning the Urusainaa back into a normal ebook reader and healing what damage was caused.

"My ebook reader!" Yuki is relieved to find the device in the grass, where the Urusainaa was standing seconds before.

"Now, where were we before we were so rudely interuppted?" Aiden asks.

"That's funny-eiko...I don't really remember where we were in the story of the Rainbow Notes." Eika sighs. Aiden is crushed--he was really wanting to know if they were created from song fragments hidden within folk and fairy tales.

"I guess Eika doesn't always know everything." Yuki notes as she pockets her ebook reader.

"It's okay-kori, we can always take you to the Crystal Plains to learn the story first hand." Kouri assures everyone.

"You can take us there? Sign me up!" Homura cries, excited about seeing where Hinote, Kouri, and Eika live firsthand.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "Terror in the sky! PreCure takes flight!"]


	22. Episode 22

The sun shines down on a fairground, where a number of planes are on display. A field with a number of pylons is nearby, where a crowd is gathering. "We're here at the fairgrounds to watch some of the world's best pilots race." Homura explains via voiceover as we see the group making their way into the stands. "Aiden had a few extra tickets for the airshow, so he gave them to Yuki and me. The highlight of the show? An air race."

"When are the planes racing, nee-san?" Hikari asks Homura as she takes a seat on the bleachers overlooking the course of pylons.

"Naturally, Mom made me take Hikari." Homura narrates some more before the Homura in the scene explains "The announcer will tell us when it's time for the planes to race."

Homura's DS shakes and Hinote appears. "I didn't know you had machines that behaved like birds in your world-hino."

"They're amazing to watch in the hands of one trained to fly them." Homura explains.

"We may not look like it, but with a certain spell cast on us, we can become large enough for a human to ride-hino." Hinote smiles. Homura chuckles at the thought of her riding a larger Hinote through the pylons, unaware that in a few short minutes, she will have to do just that.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa Precure (Flash Fire ver.)]

In the Black Realm, Bruyant addresses Lady Dischord. "According to my research, I have found that the humans have devised a machine that flies like a bird." he shows Lady Dischord a example of the stunt plane the group is watching.

"So what?" Lautia is not impressed. "You could just as easily infect a winged creature from the Green Plains."

"Bruyant has the right to infect whatever he wants with an Urusainna egg!" Ruida protests as Yende arrives to change the dressing on her wounds.

"Fascinating..." Lady Dischord is piqued in the plane. "PreCure can't possibly know how to fly, and the winged horses are too small to carry them."

"Uh-huh..." Bruyant, Lautia, and Yende agree--the wheels are already turning in their minds.

[Episode title: "Terror in the sky! PreCure takes flight!"]

The crowds ooh and ah as each of the pilots participating in the race makes a practice run on the course of pylons. "What are the rules for the race-hino?" Hinote asks as a plane loops overhead to make it through a pylon.

"Well, there's usually ten to fifteen pilots running at a time." Homura explains. "The planes have to wind around these gates called pylons, but they have to go completely through it without touching it."

"What happens if you touch the pylon-kori?" Kouri asks.

"If you touch the pylon, they add time to your lap time as a penalty." Hikari explains. "After they fly around the course so many times, the plane that flies through the finish pylon first, wins."

"The finish pylon is the one with the black and white squares on it." Aiden points out the pylon as another plane streaks through it and lands.

"Usually, they will fly about ten to thirty laps, depending on the type of planes that are competing." Yuki adds. "Some plane races are much longer than that, though." The whir of another plane taking off punctuates her point.

Meanwhile, Bruyant is admiring the sheer number of planes on display, and sends an Urusainaa egg into a navy blue plane with a sneer.

[CM break]

The crowd cheers as one by one, the pilots taking part in the race take off and begin a pace lap. The pegasi gain stars in their eyes as they watch the planes weave and turn through the pylons with laser-like precision.

But before the field can fly back to the checkered pylon to start the race, another plane--only with glowing yellow eyes and a mouth--comes into view.

"I've never seen a plane like that before..." Hikari notes.

"That's because it's no ordinary plane!" Homura gasps as the plane-Urusainaa dives towards the crowd, making them scatter. Fortunately, the field has been told to land and no one in the crowd is hurt.

"Aiden! Take Hikari somewhere safe!" Homura calls over the chaos.

"Will do--you go find a place to change!" Aiden replies as the field begins to land one by one.

"Got it!" Homura takes Yuki's hand and leads her to the girls' bathroom in the comfort station nearby the race course. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the pavement and looks up at the plane-Urusainaa circling above her. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Hello down there, PreCure..." Bruyant replies. "You realize that you have no way of getting up to my position in your current state?" It is by this time Ember discovers just where Bruyant is: piloting the plane-Urusainaa! "Unless you have some means of flight, you're headed for your doom." With that, the plane Urusainaa dives down at PreCure, sending them scrambling into the grass.

Then, Glacier gets an idea. "Didn't Hinote say that he and Kouri can grow large enough for us to ride if they are under a certain spell?"

"Of course!" Ember fumbles for her communicator. "Aiden, can you hear me? It's Ember."

"I read you, Ember." Aiden's voice comes through. "I'm with Hikari right now....she's okay, just scared."

"Send Eika over here to transform Hinote and Kouri, and tell Hikari that everything's gonna be okay." Ember replies before ducking down to avoid the plane-Urusainaa again. "The sooner the better!"

"I'm on my way-eiko!" Eika's voice replies before the communication finishes. By this time, the other planes have been grounded, and the pilots are looking up in awe at the plane Urusainaa.

Eika arrives some minutes later. "Okay...step aside for a minute, please." she instructs PreCure. Hinote and Kouri approach Eika and close their eyes so the transformation magic won't blind them. "Now..." Eika then charges a yellow ball of light in her hooves. "Radiant Twister!" When the ball hits the ground, it forms a small tornado of light, which engulfs Hinote and Kouri. PreCure watches, amazed, as their pegasi grow from the size of plush toys to the size of an actual Earth horse in a matter of seconds.

"Wow..." Ember is impressed by how larger Hinote looks as the Radiant Twister fizzles out.

"Climb aboard-hino--we can only remain in this state for a short while." Hinote cautions, his voice deeper sounding because of the Radiant Twister's magic.

"I've ridden horses before, so how hard can this be?" Glacier assures Kouri as she climbs onto her.

"Ready?" Kouri asks, her voice also temporarily aged to match her larger size. PreCure nods. "Hang on tight-kori!" With that, the two larger pegasi take off. Ember is shocked by the speed and turbulence at first, but once she is in the sky, she calms down.

[BGM: Magic in the Sky]

Bruyant is just as surprised. "How--how did you manage to make the winged horses so big?" he gasps.

"Never underestimate the power of magic." Ember snaps back. The plane Urusainaa dives at Hinote, but Ember pulls him out of the way.

Ember's communicator beeps again. "Now that you two are airborne, I'll be your eyes on the ground." Aiden begins. "The creep is fixing to come at you again, so strike now and catch it offguard!"

Hinote weaves around a pylon before meeting the plane Urusainaa head on. "Flaming Pulse!" With that, he breathes several rings of fire that grow larger the farther away they get--and all three impact the Urusainaa head on.

"Mystic Chill!" Kouri is not far behind. While heavily battered, the Urusainaa is still strong enough to fly after PreCure.

"The pylons!" Ember gets an idea. "Maybe if we made the Urusainaa clip a pylon, it'll go down!"

"Come on!" With that, PreCure begin weaving through the pylons with all the grace and skill of one of the pilots. The crowd below, meanwhile, think that the two pegasi chasing a plane is part of the show, and begin cheering as Kouri leads the Urusainna around another pylon.

"We got it-hino!" Hinote calls some laps later as the Urusainaa finally clips the pylon and starts rocketing to the ground. Bruyant, meanwhile, ejects from the Urusainaa and warps away into the Black Realm.

Ember notices the falling Urusainaa and charges a red ball of light. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a blue ball of light. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The light balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Lumen Concerto!" With the three Rainbow Notes singing in the background, waves of red and blue light go flying from the girls' hands, turning the Urusainaa back into a normal plane and healing what damage was caused. The now normal plane suddenly rights itself and lands safely.

{Cut BGM]

PreCure land some seconds later and dismount, making Hinote and Kori shrink back to their normal size. "What a ride!" Ember is still enthralled.

"Flying wasn't that bad..." Glacier smiles.

Aiden and Eika arrive with Hikari. "Nice flying, horsies." Aiden congratulates Hinote and Kouri.

"It was nothing-kori." Kouri giggles.

"I'd be happy to take you flying again-hino." Hinote agrees as Homura arrives and hugs him.

The reunion is cut short by the announcer calling "Pilots, take your mark!" making the crowd cheer again.

"Yay! The planes will race after all!" Hikari cheers."

We see a manga-esque drawing of the group watching the planes weave through the course of pylons. "All in all, we had a blast at the airshow--but my own wild flight aboard Hinote was the best part of all!" Homura narrates via voiceover over the scene.

[ED: Mamoru no Melody]

[NEXT WEEK: "Hikari's song! A Rainbow Note at a concert!"]


	23. Episode 23

An elementary school class files into the middle school auditorium, where an orchestra is tuning up. While the rest of the kids pay no heed to the instruments around them, Hikari is excited as she finds her place on the riser. _Wow! I get to sing a solo with a real orchestra backing me up!_

The orchestra and the kids quet down as Kaede arrives at the conductor's podium and signals the orchestra to tune. The resulting A note makes Hikari shiver with excitement.

Once the A note dies, both the children and the orchestra are startled by a yellow glow somewhere in the orchestra pit and a female voice singing _Give it some words, and..._

"What was that?" one of the violinists asks.

"Did we lose a kid?" Kaede and the teachers are just as concerned.

"I'll go look and see if there's any kids missing!" one of the trumpet players volunteers. As he departs, we see the same yellow glow in the pit and the same voice singing _Give it some words, and...._

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

We join Hikari as she arrives home. "I'm back, nee-san...."

"Welcome home...how did your concert rehearsal go?" Homura asks.

"Right before I got to practice my solo, I heard this weird girl singing 'Give it some words, and...' Hikari replies.

Homura restrains herself from saying it's a Rainbow Note. "Well....maybe it's a spirit or something wishing you good luck?"

"Yeah, we'll go with that." Hikari smiles, not wishing to pursue the matter further.

"Do you want to practice your solo any more before the concert next week?" Homura asks, changing the subject. "I know just the person who could accompany you!"

[Episode title: "Hikari's song! A Rainbow Note at a concert!"]

Yuki studies the sheet music to the song that Hikari is supposed to sing. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you end up singing this solo?" she asks.

"Oh, the teacher made a list of those that really wanted a solo, then we all met in the music room and took turns singing a few lines of a song." Hikari explains. "The boys and the girls had a seperate song to sing--and the better we did at the singing test, the longer and more difficult the solo we got."

Homura gasps as her DS shakes and Hinote appears. "What's all this about a performance-hino?"

"My school is having their spring concert in a week, and..." Hikari thinks a moment as to how to best explain a solo to Hinote. "I have to sing a song all by myself."

"Really? May I hear you sing it?" Hinote asks.

"Okay!" Hikari dashes to a chair by the piano and picks up her copy of the sheet music. Yuki gives her a note, which Hikari hums back to tell Yuki she is in tune. Yuki then gives Hikari a brief introduction before Hikari begins:

_Alone for a while,  
I've been searching through the dark,  
For traces of the love you left  
Inside my lonely heart,_

Hinote tears up. "Such a sad song-hino." he sniffles, wiping away a few tears.

"Oh, no, it's not a sad song at all, it gets better." Hikari assures Hinote. She motions to Yuki. "Start over please, Yuki."

Yuki is about to oblige when her DS shakes and Kouri emerges. She spots the piano and gingerly touches a hoof to a key. Fascinated by the sound, she tries another, then another, until she is playing a completely different song than what Hikari is supposed to be practicing--a boogie melody.

"That sounds like fun-hino!" Hinote flies over to the bass end of the piano and joins in with a boogie bass line.

Homura sighs as the pegasi laugh and jam away. "So much for our rehearsal...."

"What can I say, this has a great beat!" Hikari laughs as she dances to the pegasi's performance.

[CM break]

We join Homura and Hikari in the backstage area of the auditorium a week later. "Nervous at all?" Homura asks.

"A little--" Hikari starts when she sees a faint yellow glow and a female voice singing _Give it some words, and..._

"Could it be?" Homura gasps. "Wait there, and don't move till I return." she instructs Hikari.

"What is it?" Yuki arrives on the darkened stage, with Aiden not far behind.

"Over in the orchestra pit." Homura points at a small yellow music note shaped object hovering between the tubas and few drums.

"A Rainbow Note-eiko!" Eika gasps.

"And knowing our luck, a creep will crash the concert looking for it right about...." Aiden starts before he hears a crash and screams from the audience. "...now..."

Yuki watches, horrified, as one of the speakers--only now with spindly arms and legs and glowing red eyes--rampages through an empty section, destroying any seats in its path. "We need to protect that Note at all costs!"

"I got it-eiko!" Eika calls from the drum section, the Rainbow Note clutched tightly in her hooves. "You two go and transform-eiko!"

"Okay!" Homura assures Eika and she and Yuki dash for the backstage area and enter a dressing room. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the stage and challenges the speaker-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

The Urusainaa unleashes a high pitched electronic scream that sounds like feedback, causing PreCure to cover their ears. Although both of them try to attack the Urusainaa, the scream drains PreCure's strength.

"Good evening, PreCure..." Bruyant smirks. "How does it feel to be drained of your power because of the lovely noise my pet is making? Hm?"

"Make all the noise you want, but we will not fail!" Glacier retorts.

"How can you say that when every scream from my pet will leave you weakened?" Bruyant shoots back.

"Because we have a sound weapon of our own that can defeat your screaming monster!" Ember replies.

"Really?" Bruyant stiffles a chuckle. "Try me."

Ember notices the three pegasi trotting around on the piano keys. "Hinote, Kouri, Eika, hit it!" she whispers. The three pegasi nod and begin their boogie opus from before.

[BGM: The Pegasus Boogie]

"Wha--what is this noise?" Bruyant is surprised as he suddenly finds himself dancing to the swinging tune.

"This is our weapon--the power of music!" Ember explains.

"Your body is dancing--moving in rhythm to the beat." Glacier adds. "Dosen't that sound much better than noise?"

The Urusainaa tries to scream, but finds it can't because it finds itself paralyzed by the beat. Bruyant, meanwhile, breaks free of the urge to dance and warps away.

"Play another song, I think it's working!" Glacier suggests to the pegasi.

[Cut BGM]

"I have a better idea-eiko..." and Eika holds up the yellow Rainbow Note. As the Urusainaa runs to attempt to grab it, it sings _Give it some words, and..._ sending the Urusainaa falling to the stage and taking some music stands with it.

"Saves us a lot of touble-hino." Hinote agrees as he watches Glacier give the Note to Kaede.

Ember notices the dazed Urusainaa and charges a red ball of light. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a blue ball of light. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The light balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Lumen Concerto!" With the three Rainbow Notes singing in the background, waves of red and blue light go flying from the girls' hands, turning the Urusainaa back into a normal speaker and healing what damage was caused.

"PreCure, how can I ever repay you?" Hikari's music teacher smiles.

"It was nothing!" Ember smiles.

Glacier, meanwhile, summons the Score of Colors for Hinote. Ember arrives, takes the Rainbow Note from Kaede's hands, and sets it in the bottom left indentation on the left page. The four Rainbow Notes sing _Take a melody..._ _Give it some words, and..._ _Raise your voices!_ _Sing a melody of..._ before the Score disappears.

Hikari smiles at Kaede. "So does this mean I still get to sing my solo?"

"Of course...I know you've worked hard on it." Kaede replies.

We fade to the orchestra playing an introduction for Hikari before she sings:

_Alone for a while,  
I've been searching through the dark,  
For traces of the love you left  
Inside my lonely heart,  
To weave by picking up the pieces that remain,  
Melodies of life - loves lost refrain._

Our paths they did cross,  
Though I can not say just why.  
We met, we laughed, we held on fast,  
and then we said goodbye.  
And who'll hear the echoes  
Of stories never told?  
Let them ring out loud till they unfold.

In my dearest memories,  
I see you reaching out to me.  
Though you're gone,  
I still believe that you can call out my name.

The rest of the kids join in with a soft _Ooh_ as Hikari continues:

_A voice from the past,  
Joining yours and mine.  
Adding up the layers of harmony.  
And so it goes, on and on.  
Melodies of life, to the sky  
beyond the flying birds - forever and beyond._

The orchestra and kids continue with a short interlude before Hikari joins in again:

_So far and away, see the bird as it flies by.  
Gliding through the shadows of  
The clouds up in the sky.  
I've laid my memories  
And dreams upon those wings,  
Leave them now and see  
What tomorrow brings._

The other kids join in with Hikari as she continues:

_In your dearest memories,  
Do you remember loving me?  
Was it fate that brought us close  
And now leave me behind?_

A voice from the past,  
Joining yours and mine,  
Adding up the layers of harmony.  
And so it goes on and on.  
Melodies of life, to the sky  
Beyond the flying bird - forever and on.

Hikari sings the last verse alone:

_If I should leave this lonely world behind,  
Your voice will still remember our melody,  
Now I know we'll carry on.  
Melodies of life, come circle round  
And grow deep in our hearts,  
As long as we remember._

The crowd roars as Hikari takes a bow for the audience, but we see Homura's applause is the most enthusiastic. "Hikari's song gave us both more resolve than ever to find the other four Rainbow Notes." Homura narrates via voiceover. "I eagerly anticipate the day when we have all eight, so we can unleash our own melodies of life!"

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: Futari wa PreCure Flash Fire The Movie: Tales of Mystery on the Crystal Plains (part 1)]


	24. Episode 24

"Night, Mom." Aiden smiles as he passes his mother in the hallway on the way to his room.

"Good night, Aiden." Ms. Yamada replies as she disappears into the bathroom to take a shower.

Aiden, meanwhile, flops down in his bed and pulls the covers over him. _I'm beat!_ Before long, he is sleeping peacefully.

Suddenly, he hears a sickening thud coming from the bathroom and water being shut off. _Oh no..._ He gets up and quickly dashes to the bathroom, silently pleading for his mother to be okay and for her not to have had an allergic reaction.

What he sees next confirms his worst fear: his father gingerly helping Ms. Yamada to her feet, but she is clearly having trouble breathing. "What do you want me to do?" he asks.

"Get some of your friends over to stay with the girls--I'm taking your mom to the hospital." Mr. Yamada replies.

"Got it!" Aiden replies as he dashes to the phone and dials Homura's number, his heart racing all the while.

[DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

The ringing of Homura's cell phone startles Hinote from his sleep. "Now who could be calling at this hour-hino?" he yawns before looking at the caller ID and notices Aiden's name. "Homura! Wake up-hino!"

"mrrgh...what is it, Hinote?" Homura yawns as she sits up in bed.

"Aiden's on the phone--it could be important-hino!" Hinote replies as he offers the phone to Homura.

Homura sleepily takes the phone and answers it. "Hello?"

"Hi, Homura, it's Aiden..." Aiden begins. "I apologize for calling this late, but I've got a little emergency on my hands..."

"What happened?" Homura asks.

"See, Mom's always grown up with allergies to certain smells, so we have to be very careful when choosing soap and things for her." Aiden explains. "And just a while ago, she just passed out while taking a shower, not long after she used a coconut scented body wash--and I'm worried that she might die because of this!"

"How awful! Is there anything I can do to help?" Homura asks as she flicks on her light and walks to the closet.

"Funny thing is, she's never been allergic to coconut before, so I don't know how to explain what happened to my sisters when they inevitably call for Mom tonight." Aiden continues. "So I would love it if you could lend me a little support to me and my family."

"I'll be right over!" Homura replies as she finishes getting dressed. "I'll even bring Yuki too!"

"Thanks--I'll be watching for you." With that, the call ends.

"Homura? What are you doing up?" Mrs. Boukeno asks.

"Aiden's had an emergency, so I'm going to go give him what help I can." Homura explains as she begins lacing up her Rollerblades. "I'll call with any updates."

"Be careful, Homura--and let me know when you're coming home." Mrs. Boukeno replies.

"If Hikari asks where I am, tell her that Aiden's had an emergency, and I've gone to give him some help." Homura adds. "I won't forget to tell you when I'm coming home." After giving her mother a hug, Homura speeds off into the night.

[Episode title: "Emergency in the night! Aiden's fear!"]

We join the group in Aiden's room some minutes later. "So, I understand you mother had some allergic reaction to soap?" Yuki asks.

"Yeah--Mom's always had allergies to certain scents, so we have to be careful when choosing soap and candles for her." Aiden explains. "The wierd part is, coconut has not been one of them."

Yuki's DS shakes and Kouri appears. "Allergies can develop and go away at any time-kori..."

"I know that..." Aiden sighs. Some footsteps in the distance startle Kouri, so she retreats back inside the DS.

"Onii-san, where's Mama?" a black haired girl about five years old asks as she enters her room, her twin sister not far behind.

"Izumi, Nanami, come here..." Aiden shepherds the girls close to him. "Mama got very sick because of the soap in the bathroom, so Daddy took her to the hospital to see what the matter is."

"Is she going to die?" one of the girls gasps.

Aiden chuckles a little. "No, Nanami, Mama's not going to die--Daddy will call and tell us if we need to stay with her or if she can come home right away."

"Don't worry--we'll play with you two while we wait to hear from your dad." Homura assures the girls.

"How can you tell those two apart?" Yuki asks as Homura sets up a game of "Sweet World"

"Izumi has a butterfly hair clip, and Nanami a fairy hair clip." Aiden replies before the phone rings. "Hello...hi, Dad...is she okay?....we need to come stay with her?...okay...we'll be there shortly...bye."

"What did Daddy say?" Izumi worries, fearing the worst.

"He said that they have Mama stablized and they're trying to figure out what the matter is--and we need to come meet Daddy at the hospital." Aiden explains. "So go and get dressed."

"Okay, nii-san!" Nanami motions for her sister to follow her upstairs as Homura puts the Sweet World game away.

[CM break]

"So this is were all the healers are-hino..." Hinote gasps as he looks around the hospital's emergency room.

"This is where humans come if they need to see a healer right away." Homura explains. "Those that are badly hurt and need the care the most are seen first."

Aiden, meanwhile, listens as his father updates him on the situation. "Your mom is stablized, but her breathing's a little labored and she hasn't woken up yet--they think she'll be okay after getting some medicine in her. They've already put her in a room while they get the medicine ready."

Homura, meanwhile, is relaying the same news to her family. "I'm with Aiden at the hospital now--they're about to give his mom some medicine to cure the allergic reaction."

A nurse meets the group as Homura completes her call. "Come with me, please." The group gathers their belongings and follows the nurse down the hall and around the corner to the non-life threatening wing, then down another hall to a room, where Ms. Yamada is uneasily and silently resting.

"Mama?" Izumi tries to look over the bed's huge guard rail at her mother, but Aiden shoos her away.

"Please don't die, Mama..." Nanami tearfully pleads. "Please don't die..."

"Nanami...I'll...be...fine..." Ms. Yamada wheezes as some doctors take her to the exam room. Mr. Yamada, Izumi, and Nanami follow, leaving Aiden, Homura, and Yuki alone in the room.

After a tense hour passes, Aiden is about to try and start a nervous conversation with Homura and Yuki when the monitor displaying his mother's status--only now with wiry legs and many of its features twisted into the form of a body--comes crashing into the room.

"Of all the times to meet up with a creep..." Aiden sighs.

"We'll take care of it!" Homura assures Aiden as she leads Yuki into a storage closet. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps into the hallway and challenges the monitor-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Well, well, I didn't expect you to show up at this hour..." Bruyant sneers as he appears in the hospital room. "Shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

Ember is not amused. "Someone very important to Aiden is very sick, and we came to lend him and his family support!"

"How could we be in bed if someone we loved could possibly be dying?" Glacier adds.

Bruyant is unfazed. "Family or not, you two need your rest--your eternal rest, that is!" he sneers as he warps away, leaving PreCure to deal with the Urusainaa.

Glacier is first to attack, but all she manages to attack is air. She turns around to look behind her, but yelps when she sees the Urusainaa behind her. Ember runs to attempt to attack with a flaming punch from behind, but the Urusainaa jumps away, making her attack miss as well.

Hinote watches from a drawer as PreCure grapples with the Urusainaa. "You think it would be possible to hold the Urusainaa down-hino?"

"How?" Kouri is interested. "Where would we find something sharp enough and strong enough to hold it-kori?

"Would these work-hino?" Hinote emerges from the drawer with a few tongue depressors.

"Those are wooden, so they would likely break under the creep's size." Aiden explains as he watches Ember try to pick the Urusainaa up to no avail.

"Or maybe these-eiko?" Eika emerges from another drawer with some scalpels

"Those would be perfect!" Aiden takes the scalpels and heaves them at the Urusainaa like shurikens, pinning it to the wall before it can try to jump away from PreCure.

Eika is impressed at Aiden's accuracy. "Maybe those ninja TV shows you like to watch are good for something after all-eiko."

With the Urusainaa rendered completely helpless, PreCure takes advantage of being able to hit their oppenent without being tracked. Glacier kicks it in the stomach, while Ember ignites one of the scalpels, making the Urusainaa howl in pain as it struggles to get free.

"Quiet down, there are patients trying to sleep!" With that, Glacier kicks the Urusainaa in the head, paralyzing it.

Ember notices the dazed Urusainaa and charges a red ball of light. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a blue ball of light. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The light balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Lumen Concerto!" With the four Rainbow Notes singing in the background, waves of red and blue light go flying from the girls' hands, turning the Urusainaa back into a normal monitor and healing what damage was caused.

Ms. Yamada comes to as she is brought back in the room with her family some seconds later. "She's going to be all right, but we will keep her overnight for observation." the doctor explains, making Aiden heave a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad Mama's going to be okay...." Nanami is just as relieved.

"Don't ever scare us like that again, okay, Mama?" Izumi agrees.

"Thank you again for staying with us, Homura." Nanami smiles.

"The pleasure's all mine." Homura replies as everyone laughs with relief at Izumi's comment.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "Game on, PreCure! Clash in the virtual world!"]


	25. Episode 25

We join Homura in the library before a PC, doing research. "After Aiden almost lost his mom a few nights ago, the Black Realm attacked us--and who am I to suspect that Bruyant is preparing to try something even bigger to catch us?" she narrates via voiceover as she saves another article for her research.

"How's that paper coming along?" Yuki asks as she too brings over some books.

"Slow--I picked a good topic, but I can hardly find any sources." Homura sighs.

Just then, every TV in the school blips to life with Bruyant's image. "Hello there, PreCure...surprised I would find you in cyberspace?" Aiden, who is in the magazine section, also balks at Bruyant's appearance. "I came to issue a little challenge--if you can defeat me in battle in the cyber world, I will leave your world and never return. But if I win, I will destroy you...do we have a deal?" With that, the image disappears almost as quickly as it appeared.

Homura swallows hard--just how is she supposed to enter the digital realm?

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

"So let me get this straight--Bruyant appeared in the school's TV network and challenged you guys?" Aiden gasps as the group meets in a study room a short time later.

"Yeah--I heard him loud and clear!" Homura protests.

"Just his apearance surprised me too!" Aiden agrees. "I didn't even hear what he told you, even?

Homura's DS shakes and Hinote appears "I don't know what Bruyant wants, but at any rate, we need a way into the realm of technology-hino..."

_Memo to self: Don't watch Digimon before bedtime..._ Homura sighs--she hasn't counted on dealing with a Guardian in the digital realm!

"Why stop with just computers? We could also enter through a video game console or a cell phone." Yuki suggests.

The lightbulb goes off in Homura's head. "Yuki, what a great idea! We could enter through one of my consoles at home!"

"You sure your parents wouldn't object?" Yuki isn't sure.

"The ruse could be Yuki and me sleeping over..." Aiden suggests.

"That works too!" Homura smiles--she is more than ready to give Bruyant a piece of her mind.

[Episode title: "Game on, PreCure! Clash in the virtual world!"]

"Yuki, Aiden, come on in!" Ms. Boukeno smiles as she lets Yuki and Aiden inside the house. "What a nice surprise!"

"We figured since it was the weekend, we'd have a sleepover with Homura." Aiden explains.

"Well, it's a little sudden, but if your parents have approved, then I won't stop you...do you three need me to order pizza?" Ms. Boukeno asks.

"Nah, we'll be making our own food." Homura assures her mother as she sets a frozen pizza in the oven--at least Hikari will be fed and occupied while she and Yuki are doing battle within her favorite video games.

After the group has eaten, Eika addresses the group. "Close your eyes so we don't blind you with the teleportation magic-eiko." The group complies as they are surrounded by a red, blue, and yellow circle of light and warped into the TV in Homura's room.

[CM break]

The group comes to in a void of zeroes, ones, and fog. "We're here, Bruyant, just as you asked!" Homura calls into the swirling void. "Do to us as you will!" With that, she takes Yuki's hand and leads her behind a column of swirling data as an Urusainaa in the form of fog appears where they were standing seconds earlier. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps into the hallway and challenges the fog-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"I appriciate your prompt arrival, PreCure..." Bruyant smirks as he appears with the Urusainaa. "Shall we begin?" He snaps, and the Urusainaa splits into 30 polygonal outlines of familiar video game characters with omnious red eyes.

"PRECURE vs. FIGHTING POLYGON TEAM!" an announcer calls from the void.

"We've been pulled into Super Smash Bros.!" Glacier gasps. Ember swallows hard--these are no ordinary fighting polygons!

"Cures! Don't get knocked off into the void!" Aiden cautions as a polygon runs for Glacier. "You actually want to hit Bruyant, and to do that, you need to get rid of enough of the fighting polygons to expose him."

"Got it!" With that, Ember punches a Kirby-polygon into the void. Glacier gives a Link-polygon an icy kick, freezing its sword before it too is tossed into the void.

"Mystic Chill!" Kouri helps by freezing three more polygons before they can touch Ember. One by one, PreCure defeats the polygons, but before they can defeat the last polygon and try to attack Bruyant, the other 29 polygons suddenly respawn.

"This isn't supposed to happen..." Ember shudders.

"Did I neglect to mention that if you're not fast enough in defeating my datalings, they will all respawn, and you have to defeat all 30 again?" Bruyant chuckles.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "Battle in cyberspace! Bruyant logs out!"]


	26. Episode 26

We see the series logo as Eika says in voiceover "Previously, on 'Futari wa PreCure Flash Fire..."

_"Cures! Don't get knocked off into the void!" Aiden cautions as a polygon runs for Glacier. "You actually want to hit Bruyant, and to do that, you need to get rid of enough of the fighting polygons to expose him."_

"Got it!" With that, Ember punches a Kirby-polygon into the void. Glacier gives a Link-polygon an icy kick, freezing its sword before it too is tossed into the void.

"Mystic Chill!" Kouri helps by freezing three more polygons before they can touch Ember. One by one, PreCure defeats the polygons, but before they can defeat the last polygon and try to attack Bruyant, the other 29 polygons suddenly respawn.

"This isn't supposed to happen..." Ember shudders.

"Did I neglect to mention that if you're not fast enough in defeating my datalings, they will all respawn, and you have to defeat all 30 again?" Bruyant chuckles.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

We join PreCure as they try again and again to try and defeat the 30 fighting polygons. Yet no matter how hard they try, the 30 beings that vaguely resemble video game characters just continue to respawn.

"There HAS to be a way to defeat these guys!" Glacier sighs in frustration as the 30 polygons begin to respawn again.

"Well, if you have any ideas, I'm open to suggestions!" Ember is just as frustrated.

"Eika, you think we can help?" Aiden asks as he watches PreCure struggle.

"I'm not sure-eiko, but I think I may have an idea..." Eika muses.

[Episode title: "Battle in cyberspace! Bruyant logs out!"]

Eika forms a ball of light and heaves it into the arena. "Cures! Catch!"

Glacier narrowly misses a polygon's fireball and catches the ball of light, where it transforms into a sword whose "blade" is a glowing column of blue light. Ember also catches a light ball, only hers becomes a pile of tiny motion sensor bombs.

"How did Eika know what our favorite items in 'Super Smash Bros.' are?" Ember gasps.

"We all see you playing it all the time-hino." Hinote explains.

"So we figured your favorite items would help you since you are in the game's world-kori." Kouri agrees.

"Thanks?" Ember isn't sure what to think of the pegasi's gift.

"Let's see if THIS will be any help defeating the polygons!" Glacier growls as she whacks away a polygon.

"You're welcome to try all you like, but like I said before, if you don't defeat the datalings fast enough, they will just respawn." Bruyant sneers--he is obviously enjoying watching PreCure struggle.

"Well, we're going to beat them for sure this time!" Ember snaps back.

"Try me." Bruyant smirks.

Glacier whacks away some polygons as Ember begins lying down the motion sensor bombs near the left edge of the arena. Once sure she has defeated the polygons approaching from the front, she jumps and smacks a few polygons approaching from the air as she backflips over the minefield Ember has set and lands behind the safe zone the pegasi created.

"When the remaining polygons step on the motion sensor bombs, they'll all explode, defeating them all." Ember explains. Glacier nods in appreciation, then shields her ears as a polygon dashes towards the minefield, unaware of the booby trap.

Bruyant watches in shock as an explosion is heard and the last of his polgons go flying into the void. "Well now, you have once again proven to be more resourceful than I thought...let's stage round 2 in a different virtual world, shall we?" With that, he warps away through a blue portal.

"Follow that Guardian!" PreCure, Aiden, and the pegasi are not far behind.

[CM break]

When PreCure come to some time later, Ember notices that they are not in a video game, but instead in a world filled with zeroes and ones. "Where are we?"

Glacier recognizes the windows of familiar PC programs swirling around her, but the tip off comes when she sees Hikari's face staring back at the Internet browser window in front of her. "We're inside the computer in the den at your house--and Hikari's online!"

Meanwhile, back at the house, Hikari drums her fingers on the mouse pad. _What's taking so long?_ "Mom, why is the Internet going so slow?" she complains.

"A lot of people are online right now, Hikari, so be patient." Ms. Boukeno replies.

Inside the computer, Bruyant appears before PreCure, apparently angry. "You may have bested my polygons, but you'll be no match for this!" With that, he inserts a Urusainaa egg into the zeroes and ones. After a few tense minutes, a vaguely humanoid-like being appears before PreCure!

"No way!" Aiden is shocked.

"I didn't know it was possible to create an Urusainaa from the entire Internet-hino." Hinote is equally impressed.

However, instead of attacking PreCure, the urusainaa shoots an angry look at Bruyant. "What are you looking at me that way for?" Bruyant asks, but the Urusainaa shatters the browser window, prompting Bruyant to flee.

Ember balks, stunned by the turn of events. "I've never seen an Urusainaa turn on its maker before!"

"What do we do now?" Glacier wonders.

"Let's just wait and see-kori." Kouri suggests. PreCure shrugs and watches as the mass of zeroes and ones chases Bruyant.

At the house, Hikari grimaces as her browser crashes. _Oh, great..._ She brings up the virus scanner. _Maybe there's a virus that's making the Internet crash..._

In the computer, blue lights appear and begin scanning everything. PreCure, Aiden, and the pegasi are deemed safe, but the lights turn red and an alarm blares when Bruyant and the being are scanned. The being tackles Bruyant to the ground and squeezes him in its arms.

Ember sees Bruyant struggling to get free from the monstrosity of zeroes and ones he created. "Let's do this!" She holds out a hand and charges a fireball. "Flames that pulse to the eternal rhythm..."

Glacier charges a ice ball. "Stirring melody that chills your soul..."

The elemental balls expand to form a sort of shield around the two girls. "With eight melodies and the song of PreCure..." Ember continues.

"Turn from the darkness and embrace the light!" Glacier adds.

Both girls hold out their hands. "PreCure...Melodic Fever!" With four Rainbow Notes singing in the background, waves of fire and ice go flying from the girls' hands and engulf Bruyant, making him cry in more pain.

Glacier hears Bruyant say "I don't believe this!" as the red-yellow-light blue-indigo wave of light exposes his true static form for a few seconds and hurls him back into the Black Realm.

"Well done-eiko!" Eika smiles as Ember and Glacier emerge from a computer screen some seconds later.

"Two Guardians have been defeated-kori!" Kori is just as estatic. Ember and Glacier nod, and hug each other.

At the Boukeno house, Hikari smiles with relief as the site she was viewing returns to normal. "Mom! The Internet's back up! And the virus scan came out clean!"

In the Black Realm, we hear a faint voice singing _Take a melody..._ in the distance, making Lady Dischord scream in pain. "Why, Bruyant? Why did you have to try and make an Urusainaa out of something too large for you to control?"

"But I had it under control..." Bruyant weakly protests as Yende arrives to begin bandaging his wounds.

"An entire computer network is much too large to attempt to infect." Yende agrees. "Although we do not doubt your skill, even you have your limits."

"With your ladyship's permission, I want to try and capture PreCure naturally." Lautia interjects. "Let's see how PreCure can hold up to something borne from one of their own creatures!"

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

NEXT WEEK: "The seeds of a new challenge! The nature lover, Lautia!"


	27. Episode 27

A crowd of eighth grade students cheers as they flock out to a new plot of land on the school grounds. "Recently, the principal's family gave us some land to plant a garden in memory of the school's founder, and the eighth grade has the work of actually planting the garden." Homura explains via voiceover as we see the group receive some seeds from a teacher.

"We're planting in this spot by the corner." Aiden explains as he leads Homura and Yuki over to their assigned section.

Yuki stifles a giggle at Akane balking at the notion of digging in dirt, then gives Aiden a seed packet. "Let's start wth these." she suggests as she makes a hole for the seed in the dirt with her finger. Aiden drops the seed in and covers it, then Homura waters it.

Meanwhile, Lautia is observing the planting from a bush. _Wow...so many opportunities for plant Urusainaas! It's going to be hard to choose just one!_

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

In the Black Realm, Lady Dischord addresses Lautia. "Urusainaas from the natural environment of the Green Plains? Tell me more, Lautia."

"As we all understand, the Green Plains is a vast world filled with all sorts of fauna and flora." Lautia explains as an image of Earth in space appears for a moment, then changes to a slideshow of Earth plants and animals. "My plan...is to track down PreCure and destroy them using beings and items from the Green Plains' natural habitats."

"Wasn't there a pair of PreCure that drew their power from nature?" Ruida asks. Clips from Splash Star blip on the screen to illustrate her point.

"And more recently, a group of PreCure derived from items in the Green Plains that smell nice?" Bruyant adds, making clips from Fresh PreCure flash by on the screen. "This group of awakened ones was unusual in that a Guardian was turned to the side of light." We see scenes from Cure Passion's awakening for a moment.

"I do hope you don't submit to the power of light, Lautia...we would miss your tactical prowess." Yende notes as he arrives to tend to Bruyant's wounds.

Lautia sighs as the screen returns to the scene of the garden being planted. _Why would I want to join the cause of the beings of light, anyway?_

[Episode title: "The seeds of a new challenge! The nature lover, Lautia!"]

Back with the group, Homura is watering the plants Aiden and Yuki have planted when her DS shakes and Hinote appears. "What are you doing crawling in dirt-hino?"

"I'm not crawling in dirt, I'm planting flowers and sweet smelling plants." Homura explains.

Yuki's DS shakes and Kouri appears. "A garden? What is the occassion-kori?"

"A long time ago, the school's founder left a request in his will to have a garden planted in his memory when he died." Yuki explains. "For a long time, the school just didn't have enough space to plant a garden, and that request went unheeded for years."

"Then this year, the principal's family got permission from the founder's family to donate some unused land on the school grounds for the garden, and now that request is finally being realized." Homura continues. "It's gonna be so beautiful when everything blooms!"

"I'm sure it will be-hino." Hinote smiles.

Eika appears some seconds later. "You guys are planting a garden? May I help?"

"It's not just us, Eika--the whole school is pitching in." Aiden explains. "The sixth grade designed how it will all look, the seventh grade helped set everything up and bought the seeds, and the ninth grade is planning the dedication ceremony for when we're all done planting."

"Can we help-hino?" Hinote asks.

"Sure--first make a little hole, then have Hinote drop a seed in and cover it, and then have Kouri water it." Homura instructs as she hands Eika a packet of marigold seeds. Eika nods, and the pegasi go to work planting marigolds.

[CM break]

We join the group some hours later--some groups have already finished planting in their assigned plots, and are playing games nearby. Homura, Yuki, and Aiden are one of the groups still working--they have three varieties of seeds left to plant.

"I've staked off a place to plant the mint so it doesn't choke the other plants." Homura calls to Yuki as she inserts a wood stake into the ground. Yuki walks over and is about to plant the mint seeds when she notices a seed is missing. "Odd--we appear to be missing a seed."

Homura is about to ask Yuki where she saw the seed last when the missing seed--now with sickly yellow eyes and vine-like arms and legs comes crashing through the wooded area of the school grounds!

"What IS that?" a boy gasps. The other students abandon the games they are playing and flee in panic.

"Come on!" Homura leads Yuki into the school as the students scatter. After jumping to avoid the huge vines that attempt to shatter the windows, the girls first consider ducking into a girls' bathroom, but vines block the entryway. Storage closets are also ruled out, as there aren't any in the hall the girls are in.

Suddenly, Yuki notices the entrance to the science wing. "The main lab's foyer! That leads outside!"

"Good idea--we can transform in the foyer and then go outside to see where all these vines are coming from!" Homura agrees as she dashes for the main lab's foyer. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass and challenges the seed-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"So you two are the famous PreCure..." Lautia smirks as she appears by the seed-Urusainaa. "Surprised to be fighting something from your own world?"

Glacier suddenly recognizes the seed-Urusainaa--it was born from one of the mint seeds she was going to plant! "How dare you try and corrupt something as beautiful as a plant?" she demands.

"We won't forgive anyone who tries to corrupt nature!" Ember agrees.

"All right...since you're not going to cooperate with me in your current state, maybe a nice nap will make you more willing to talk...I'll be waiting for you in the Black Realm." With that, Lautia warps away, and the Urusainaa breathes a water-like mist at PreCure.

"Watch out!" Hinote calls. PreCure jumps away and the mist hits some other students, putting them to sleep.

"Sleeping gas-kori!" Kouri gasps in surprise.

"It appears the third Guardian uses plant based Urusainaa, and likes to affect status effects on her targets before taking them to the Black Realm-eiko." Eika notes.

"At any rate, be careful not to be put to sleep by the creep." Aiden cautions. "You do have a double advantage--grass is weak to fire and ice."

"Uh-huh...." PreCure smiles. They nod, and Ember delivers a flaming punch to the Urusainaa, setting the point of impact ablaze. The Urusainaa howls in pain, and tries to breathe more sleeping gas, but can't because of the flames that burn near its torso. As it frantically tries to put them out, Glacier delivers an icy kick to its back, freezing the point of impact and sending the Urusainaa flying against a rock, dazed.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a seed and healing what damage was caused. The students that were put to sleep groggily wake up with no memory of the Urusainaa nor the battle.

"Shall we?" Aiden picks up the seed and plants it after Yuki digs a hole for it.

The scene fades to a few weeks later, where a crowd has gathered for the garden's dedication ceremony. "Despite the Black Realm's attack, the garden's dedication ceremony went as planned." Homura narrates via voiceover as she watches the principal speak. A teacher cuts the ribbon, making the crowd cheer. "We've worked so hard on that garden, and we're not going to let the Black Realm take advantage of our work!" she vows as a breeze scatters some dandelion seeds over the garden.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "The parade of lights! Lautia the party crasher!"]


	28. Episode 28

The morning sun shines down on a street made to look like a medieval faire, where crowds of people are coming and going through the various lands of a theme park. We find Homura, Yuki, Aiden, Izumi, and Nanami in the crowd seconds later, deciding what to do first. "We're here at Worlds of Fantasy today with Aiden and his sisters--it is the first park in the world to feature Nintendo characters as its theme." Homura explains via voiceover as Yuki snaps a picture of an exact replica of Hyrule Castle farther down the street. "I've been here millions of times, but Yuki and the twins have never been, so when Aiden said he had two extra tickets, he gave them to Yuki and me."

"Okay...what ride do we want to go on first?" Aiden asks Izumi and Nanami as he leads the group down the street and into a land that is themed to a city out of the Pokemon series--known in the park as White City. Nanami is enthralled by all the costume Pokemon, so she gets her picture with Pikachu and Piplup.

"I want to ride the roller coaster!" Izumi declares, pointing out a three track dueling coaster in the distance.

"I'm interested in the Lights of Fantasy parade later on tonight..." Yuki notes as Aiden measures Izumi's height against a sign depicting a pile of Pokemon with Pikachu's finger marking the required height to ride the coaster, Roars of Fury.

"You've always liked pretty lights, haven't you?" Homura notes as Aiden leads Izumi away from the sign--it turns out that Izumi falls well short of the height requirement.

Lautia, meanwhile, is observing the crowds from a garden, and eyes a plant shaped like a Beautifly with a sneer.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

In the Black Realm, Lautia shows Lady Dischord a scene from a theme park. "The Green Plains has a number of places where humans gather to have fun."

"Fascinating..." Lady Dischord smiles over the various clips of Tokyo Disneyland and Worlds of Fantasy.

"One unique aspect of these places is the elaborate plants." Lautia continues, changing the scene to a number of theme park plants. "They are often cut in a complex shape to keep with the theme. Since PreCure is in one such place today..." She shows a scene of Homura, Yuki, and Aiden in a roller coaster car that is climbing up a hill. "I thought I would try to infect one of these plants, in hopes it would manifest into the shape it was cut into."

"An intriguing idea..." Yende agrees.

"If I had more strength, I'd be happy to try infecting one of the amusement devices." Bruyant offers, but a wave of pain forces him back into his bed.

"Said the one who overestimated his own strength." Ruida giggles-most of her wounds are gone, but she is still in a lot of pain.

Lautia sighs. "I will capture PreCure in my own way, thank you." With that, she departs for the Green Plains.

[Episode title: The parade of lights! Lautia the party crasher!]

Homura steps off the red track of Roars of Fury, giddy from the wild ride. "Okay, I've ridden, now it's Aiden's turn."

"I want to ride too, nii-san!" Izumi begs.

"Sorry, but Pikachu said you weren't tall enough yet." Aiden replies. "Maybe once you two get a little bigger, I can take you, but for now, just stay with Homura and Yuki while I go ride." With that, he gets in line.

"This is your first time here, right?" Homura asks Yuki.

"Yes--I've wanted to come for quite some time, especially since I hear the nighttime parade consistently wins awards." Yuki replies.

"What's that like, Homura-san? Wouldn't it be hard to march in the dark?" Nanami asks.

"Well..." Homura thinks for a moment--she and Aiden have seen the Lights of Fantasy Parade many times, so how is she going to explain to Yuki, Izumi, and Nanami what to expect without spoiling anything for all three of them? "The floats and the costumes on the performers have lots and lots of lights on them so they can see what they're doing in the dark."

"Thank you, Homura--that was an easy way to put it." Yuki smiles.

Nanami suddenly spots an ice cream vendor attracting a line in the distance. "Can we get ice cream, Homura-san?"

"Pretty please?" Izumi begs.

"Well...okay." Homura gives the twins each a 500 yen bill. "But come right back here to eat it, okay?"

"Okay!" With that, Izumi and Nanami run to get in line.

Homura's DS shakes and Hinote appears. "Wow...what is this place-hino?"

"This is Worlds of Fantasy, a place where humans can have fun." Homura explains. "Home of Roars of Fury, the water play area Delfino Pier, The Legend of Zelda Stunt Spectacular..."

"Star Fox: Battle for Katina..." Yuki adds. "And of course the Lights of Fantasy parade--that's only naming a few of the things to do here..."

"That sounds like so much fun-hino!" Hinote has stars in his eyes. "I want to go on every ride-hino!"

Yuki's DS shakes and Kouri appears. "Pity pegasi don't meet the height requirements for the rides-kori..." Hinote sweatdrops at this.

The pegasi retreat as Izumi and Nanami return with chocolate dipped ice cream cones. "We're back!"

Aiden steps off Roars of Fury some seconds later. "I see you two got ice cream while you were waiting..." he smiles.

"Thanks, Homura-san!" Izumi smiles.

"Let's go on the Zelda ride next!" Homura suggests, pointing out a building in the distance that resembles an ancient temple.

Once the twins finish their ice cream, the group starts off towards the west end of the park. Lautia, meanwhile, notices one of the Poke Ball plants and slips an Urusainaa egg inside it with a smirk.

[CM break]

We join the group as they again negotiate what ride to go on. "Okay, we've been on Roars of Fury and Escape from the Earth Temple, now what?" Aiden asks Izumi and Nanami.

"I want to see the Super Smash Bros. 3D movie!" Izumi suggests.

"Can we go on the Star Fox rides now?" Nanami begs.

Yuki is about to add her suggestion for a ride or show when screams from the White City area of the park get her attention. "Something's wrong!"

"Come on!" Aiden leads the way back to White City, where what looks like one of the Poke Ball plants, albeit with vine arms and legs and glowing yellow eyes, is trying to capture people by engulfing them in red light, very similar to a Poke Ball recalling a Pokemon.

"What's going on?" Nanami gasps.

"It's a show, isn't it?" Izumi asks as Aiden leads his sisters into the lost and found building.

"Show or not, I want you two to stay here while I go find some help, okay?" Aiden replies. Izumi and Nanami nod as their brother departs.

"This way!" Homura leads Yuki back towards a bathroom as the Urusainaa whacks away some park security. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the pavement and challenges the Poke Ball-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Surprised I chose an inanimate object?" Lautia smiles as she appears before the Urusainaa.

"It may not be a Poke Ball, it's just a plant that looks like one!" Ember shoots back.

"But regardless of what the plant looks like, you are still corrupting nature!" Glacier adds. Lautia sighs and warps away, not wanting to pursue the matter further.

"Here!" Eika conjures an Ash hat on Aiden's head, making him look like an older version of Ash. "So long as we are battling like this, you can at least look the part of the hero-eiko."

Ember sweatdrops. "I've been reduced to a Pokemon..." A scene of chibi Aiden, as Ash, with chibi Ember following behind as a Pikachu appears for a few seconds.

Aiden, however, appears to relish playing the role of Izumi and Nanami's favorite anime hero. "Ember, dodge and Fire Kick the creep!" he calls as the Urusainaa spews a wave of red energy. Ember deftly jumps out of the way and delivers a flaming kick to the Urusainaa's white half.

"What's with the hat-hino?" Hinote wonders.

"In the universe of Pokemon, the premise is about all these creatures that can be caught inside balls." Aiden explains. "And apparently, Eika thinks I look the part of the show's hero."

Meanwhile, Glacier delivers an icy kick to the Urusainaa's red half. The Urusainaa spews another wave of light, but both Cures dodge before being caught. "Say..." she muses as she lands close by Aiden.

"What?" Ember asks.

"Maybe if we were to try striking both halves at the same time, it would weaken the Urusainaa." Glacier explains. "The red half is likely a fire elemental, and the white an ice elemental..."

"Say..." The lightbulb goes off in Ember's mind. "You might be on to something!"

"Glacier, Ice Kick the red half! Ember, Fire Kick the white half!" Aiden calls, clearly getting into his role as Ash. Ember and Glacier nod, jump at the Urusainaa, and furiously kick at their respective halves. The force of the impact is great enough to send the Urusainaa flying against a pole.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a Poke Ball-shaped plant and healing what damage was caused. The crowd cheers, figuring PreCure are two guest characters in the park Glacier just laughs as Aiden does Ash's "got badge" routine for the crowd.

Later, Homura waits as Aiden and Yuki return from buying Izumi and Nanami glow sticks. "Perfect timing! The parade's going to start in a few minutes."

Sure enough, an announcer speaks. "Ladies and gentlemen, our starlit procession is only minutes away! Come join your favorite Nintendo characters as they host a fantastic celebration filled with music and sparkling lights! It's the Lights of Fantasy Parade, beginning in just five minutes." Crowd begin forming on the sides of the street, eager to get a glimpse of the glittering floats when they arrive.

"How will we know when the parade's starting, nii-san?" Nanami asks Aiden.

"Well, all the buildings will light up, and a cool version of the Final Fantasy Prelude will play before seguing into the Mario theme to start the show." Aiden replies. "You'll see why this version of the Prelude is cool."

Aiden's DS shakes and Eika appears. "There's a parade-eiko?"

Hinote emerges next. "I want to see too!"

"Me too-kori!" Kouri emerges and lands on Yuki's shoulder.

As the sun sinks below the horizon, the faire's buildings suddenly light up, making excited whispers waft through the crowd. An instrument that sounds like a cross between a harp and a bell begins to play the Final Fantasy Prelude, with lights on top of the buildings flashing up and down the scale in time to the music. Some resonant synth strings join in before a female voice speaks over the second part of the melody: "The end of the day--a time to reflect, relax, and rest from the chaos of daily life. But to some, the party only begins when the sun goes down--the night is a time of joy and celebration, with a million points of light twinkling in the darkness. Tonight we invite you to join us in one such celebration, dedicated to hope, dreams, and the resiliency of the human spirit, manifested in Lights of Fantasy!" With that, the Prelude segues into a slightly techno sounding version of the Mario theme, making some in the crowd clap along as a giant winged Yoshi float leads the way, complete with Mario and Peach aboard it.

The scene becomes a manga-esque drawing of Nanami waving to Peach. "We had a great time at Worlds of Fantasy, even if the Black Realm almost spoiled it." Homura explains via voiceover. The scene shifts to the three pegasi watching the parade with stars in their eyes. "Although, I think the pegasi enjoyed the parade more than we did!"

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: Hinote in love? A Rainbow Note of romance!]


	29. Episode 29

"Hinote?" Homura asks as she peeks into the bathroom, while Hinote is smoothing out his mane. "Why the dressing up?"

Hinote sighs a content sigh. "I think I'm in love-hino..."

"In love? Really?" Homura is surprised--she hasn't seen her pegasus interested in any female pegasi. Furthermore, the only other pegasi on the Green Plains are Kouri and Eika, and they haven't shown any romantic leanings. "What's she like?"

"Well..." Hinote rinses his mane, then continues. "She's nice, playful, has a good sense of humor-hino...

"Does Kouri know about your beloved?" Homura asks.

"Yes--she says that she's glad I've found someone to love and that the relationship works-hino." Hinote replies. "Judging from how nice she treats me, I think it will!"

Homura thinks hard about Hinote's transformation--it isn't like him to be this romantic, so is there something more to this girlfriend?

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

In the Black Realm, Lautia accepts a small pink pegasus doll from Yende. "Interesting invention...how does it work?"

"At first glance, the doll will behave like a normal pegasus, but when the timer to infection runs out, the Urusainaa egg I've infected it with will hatch, transforming it into an Urusainaa." Yende explains. "Since the red pegasus that carries the Score of Colors is male, it is natural that he will mistake it for a real female pegasus and fall in love with it."

"So the winged horse I captured was the female?" Ruida gasps.

"Yes--you should have tried for the red one." Yende replies as he arrives to change Ruida's dressings.

"I am glad to report that the red pegasus has already formed a romantic relationship with your invention, Yende." Lautia smiles, showing Yende scenes of Hinote and the doll writing letters to each other, playing, and flying around the city.

"Excellent..." Yende smiles. "This will be perfect for our obtaining the Rainbow Notes!"

[Episode title: "Hinote in love? A Rainbow Note of romance!"]

We join the group in Yuki's room. "Okay...when did Hinote show any romantic inclinations?" Aiden asks Homura.

"It started a week or two ago, when Hinote befriended this pink pegasus named Aina..." Homura explains. "Since then, it's been Aina this, Aina that...I wish he'd talk about someone else!"

Eika looks at Kouri. "I don't remember any pegasus named Aina on the Crystal Plains-eiko..."

"Me neither..." Kouri begins. "At the same time, she could be a newcomer-kori.."

"That's true-eiko..." Eika notes before motioning for Homura to continue.

"And when he's not talking about her, he's been writing little love notes, giving her gifts, and stuff like that!" Homura continues before retrieving a small piece of paper from a pocket. "The doctor told me if I don't get enough Peaches I'll have to check into the hospital for a juice transfusion. Hope to see you soon :)" Everyone laughs at the note's contents.

"That's the oddest love note I've seen..." Aiden laughs.

Kouri and Eika are also howling with laughter at the note. "Then again, Hinote was never known for being a good writer-kori..."

"I have my sneaking suspicions that this Aina is really a trap and Hinote is in grave danger..." Homura notes as she puts the love note away, quieting the laughter. "She's told him to meet her in a little clearing in the park Thursday--who thinks we should follow him?"

"I do!" Kouri replies.

"Me too." Aiden agrees.

"They say that love is blind, but I agree with your fears--what if Hinote is being led into a trap?" Yuki interjects.

"It's settled--we follow Hinote on his date." Homura declares.

[CM break]

A few days later, Hinote arrives in a clearing, where Aina is waiting. "You came-ai! I have a present for you..." She shows Hinote a purple music note that appears to glow as it sings _Love, oh love..._

"How did you find that-hino?" Hinote asks, surprised that someone else is searching for the Rainbow Notes.

"Come closer, and I'll tell you." Aina sneers, and begins mutating into a large demonic pegasus-like form. Hinote screams and flees in terror.

Homura hears the scream in the distance and motions for Yuki and Aiden to follow her. "Hinote's in trouble!"

"I knew this Aina was a trick..." Kouri grumbles as the group arrives in the clearing, where Hinote is cornered by the pegasus-Urusainaa.

"I'll distract horsie-creep and get Hinote to safety, you two go change!" Aiden calls as he heaves a smoke ball at the Urusainaa, buying Hinote time to hole up in a bush.

"Right!" Homura leads Yuki behind a tree. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass and challenges the pegasus-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

Eika swoops in and grabs Hinote away as the Urusainaa tries to grab at him. "You need to get away from here! Now!"

"But what about Aina?" Hinote protests.

"Don't you see-kori? 'Aina' was really a trap from the Black Realm!" Kouri snaps as Ember lands a kick on the Urusainaa's back.

"Lautia wanted to take the Score of Colors from you and destroy the Rainbow Notes-eiko." Eika explains, a note of anger in her voice. "Had you seen Aina for what she really was, we wouldn't be in this mess right now." Glacier lands a punch on the Urusainaa to prove her point.

Hinote hangs his head as PreCure continue to grapple with the Urusainaa. "I'm sorry-hino--I should've known all this was a trap sooner. Is there anything I can do to redeem myself-hino?"

"Yes--you can help PreCure." Eika replies, pointing out a glowing black heart on the Urusainaa's head that both Ember and Glacier are struggling to land an attack on.

Hinote's expression turns angry. "I'll be glad to help PreCure-hino!" The Black Realm will pay for tricking me with a false lover!" With that, he swoops into the bushes where PreCure and the Urusainaa are battling and unleashes a few flaming rings. "Flaming Pulse!" The Urusainaa is not expecting the attack, and falls against a tree, dazed.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a pegasus doll and healing what damage was caused.

"So Aina was really a doll-hino?" Hinote asks.

"Unfortunately-kori--Lautia took advantage of every creature's desire to have someone to love and tried to use it to trap you." Kori explains as Yuki summons the Score of Colors.

"It's fortunate that PreCure saved you before Lautia could capture you-eiko." Eika adds as she gives the purple Rainbow Note to Homura, who sets it in the bottom right indentation on the right page next to the indigo note. The five Rainbow Notes then sing _Take a melody..._ _Give it some words, and..._ _Raise your voices!_ _Sing a melody of_ _Love, oh love..._ as the Score disappears.

Aiden notices Hinote's glum face. "Don't worry, you'll find a pretty lady pegasus--one that loves you for real--one day."

"You mean it?" Hinote gains stars in his eyes. "I can't wait to find her-hino!" Everyone laughs as Kouri and Eika sweatdrop.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: Tasting the world! Dinner and a battle!]


	30. Episode 30

"Mm, smells good in here-eiko." Eika smiles as she flies into the kitchen, where Aiden is tending to some beef patties simmering on the stove.

"Thanks...the student council's hosting their annual international dinner to kick off the culture festival, so they asked anyone they could to make items from other countries." Aiden explains. "I'm contributing some American food by making burgers."

"Fascinating-eiko..." Eika replies as she watches the meat simmer.

"Homura's going to drop by later with Yuki to help make the other half of my American food contribution--apple pie." Aiden continues. "I look foward to this every year, since one of my two items almost always wins a prize."

"It sounds so good! I hope you take first place-eiko!" Eika smiles, licking her lips at the thought of apples in a pie.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

In the Black Realm, Lady Dischord is fascinated by the scenes of Earth food Lautia is showing her. "Amazing...never have I seen a world with so many diverse lands..."

"Just as there are many lands on the Green Plains, so too are there many different foods." Lautia explains. "Not surprisingly, every different land has its own kind of food--one of the most natural instincts of any being is to eat."

"It would be fascinating if you could create something that could eat the beings on the Green Plains--none of the Urusainaas Ruida and Bruyant tried could do so." Yende notes.

"I wasn't interested in seeing them eaten!" Ruida protests.

"Likewise, I wanted them alive!" Bruyant agrees. "I wanted Her Ladyship having the honor of destroying them and the Rainbow Notes!"

"Everyone, please! If Lautia wants to try and destroy the beings of light herself, let her." Lady dischord breaks up the argument as Lautia departs for the Green Plains.

[Episode title: "Tasting the world! Dinner and a battle!"]

Back at Aiden's house, Aiden whisks together some flour, sugar, and salt. "Okay...Homura, start working the butter into the dry stuff with your fingers--it should look like yellow cornmeal mixed with bean sized butter pieces after a while."

"What if the mixture gets too warm?" Homura asks as she goes to work.

"One thing I do when that happens it to put the flour and butter mixture in the refrigerator for 10 minutes." Yuki replies as she adds an egg.

"If the dough feels too dry, let me know and I'll put some cold water in." Aiden replies as he continues mixing the dough.

Yuki's DS shakes and Kouri appears. "Mm, what are we baking-kori?"

"We're helping Aiden make apple pie for the school's international dinner." Yuki replies. "His recipe's a little different than mine, though."

Homura is surprised. "You know how to make apple pie too?"

"Yes--Mom taught me one evening when I mentioned I wanted to learn to bake." Yuki replies as Aiden finishes mixing the dough and begins forming it into a disk shape.

"Now then, we'll let the dough chill for an hour..." Aiden explains as he wraps the dough in aluminum foil. "and make the filling while we wait."

We see scenes of the group peeling, slicing and coring apples before we shift to a scene of the school, where Lautia sends an Urusainaa egg into a pile of food with a sneer.

[CM break]

We join the group at the school a few days later, where Homura and Yuki are helping to set the many tables in the cafeteria. "Pies are over by the dessert line." a teacher tells Aiden. Aiden nods and walks over to the dessert table, where a space for apple pie is reserved.

"I can't wait to see what everyone made this year..." Homura smiles.

"It's always fun to taste all sorts of food from around the world." Yuki agrees. She is about to say more when a crash is heard. "What was that?"

Aiden peeks down a hallway as the pegasi look on in fear. "Walking food fight creep at three o' clock!" he reports as he watches what looks like a humanoid being made from food stumble towards the cafeteria, leaving a trail of fruit juice in its wake.

"Right! The silverware can wait!" Homura replies as she and Yuki dash into the food prep area of the cafeteria.

"We can try this empty storage closet!" Yuki suggests as she leads Homura over to an empty steel food storage closet.

"Good idea." With that, Homura carefully shuts the door. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass and challenges the food-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Welcome, PreCure...ready for your last meal?" Lautia smirks. "Where you are the ones to be eaten?"

"You probably wouldn't want to eat me..." Ember warns.

"And why not? Urusainaa isn't picky in the least." Lautia protests.

Ember finds a stack of cream pies. "Because I'd taste awful!" With that, she heaves the pie at Lautia, but hits the Urusainaa instead, making it stumble backwards.

"Interesting...the Urusainaa is made of food, and is at the same time weak to food..." Glacier picks up a banana peel. "So while I am usually appalled by food fights, I can make an exception in an emergency!" With that, she heaves the banana peel at the Urusainaa.

Lautia looks on in horror as Aiden begins narrating the food fight as a recipe. "In a large kitchen, combine a pound of ground beef..." Ember heaves a few burger patties at the Urusainaa. "Lettuce..." Glacier jumps to avoid some lettuce from the Urusainaa. "Cheese..." Glacier retaliates by heaving a wedge of cheese at the Urusainaa. "and salt to taste." The pegasi find a can of salt and dump it on the floor, making the Urusainaa slip and fall. "Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes or until brown."

"Flaming Pulse!" Hinote attacks the Urusainaa to help Ember, engulfing the Urusainaa in flames.

"If desired, add tomato." Aiden narrates as Glacier and Kouri pelt the Urusainaa with tomatoes. "Mix well..." At this, PreCure take to juggling the Urusainaa in the air with their respective attacks, ultimately throwing the Urusainaa against the wall.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a pile of food and healing what damage was caused. Lautia, meanwhile, warps away in defeat.

"Serves three." Aiden concludes, making everyone laugh nervously.

"Despite the Black Realm, the international dinner was a huge success." Homura narrates via voiceover as we look on the crowd eating at the various tables. "Not surprisingly, Aiden won a prize for Most Popular Dessert thanks to his apple pie." We see Aiden smiling as a judge pins a blue ribbon at the spot where the pie is sitting. "But I think the pegasi liked the pie more then the people!" We look over in one corner of the room, where the pegasi are happily eating the pie and sipping on juice.

Hinote raises his glass. "A toast-hino! To the success of PreCure's mission!"

"To the success of PreCure's mission!" With that, three classes of juice clink together as the pegasi laugh.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "Double the danger! Izumi and Nanami's great adventure!"]


	31. Episode 31

"It sure was nice to allow us to come with you and the girls on this picnic." Homura smiles as she, Yuki, Aiden, and the twins troop up a hill.

"They've been driving me nuts lately, so Mom suggested I take them to the park for a picnic." Aiden explains as he lays a picnic blanket down on the grass. Izumi sets the basket down while Nanami finds some rocks to hold the blanket down.

Her task complete, Izumi spots the playground in the distance. "Can we go play on the playground, nii-san?"

"Sure, just play nice and come back here when we're ready to eat, okay?" Aiden replies.

"Okay!" With that, the twins romp off down the trail leading to the playground, unaware of a shiny rock embedded in the dirt.

[DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

We see scenes of the twins climbing the monkey bars, swinging on the swingset, and taking turns going down the slide for a moment before Izumi sees something sparkly by the slide. "What's that?"

Nanami grabs a stick and digs for a moment. "I'm not sure, but it could be something worth a billion yen!" Excited at the prospect of treasure, Izumi grabs a rock and helps her sister dig. Once they have dug enough to pry the object loose from the dirt, Nanami looks at it. "Clear, projects rainbows in the light..."

"Really hard..." Izumi adds as she bangs a fist on the object, only not leaving any kind of scratch or dent. Both girls' eyes light up. "Maybe...we found a diamond?"

"Nii-san says the park rangers know how to identify rocks! Let's go find a ranger and ask!" Nanami suggests.

[Episode title: "Double the danger! Izumi and Nanami's great adventure!"]

After a while, the twins approach a female ranger clearing some brush from a trail. "We found this rock in the dirt by the playground, and we think it's a diamond..." Izumi explains as she hands the ranger the rock.

The ranger examines the rock for a moment, then replies "You two must be really smart, because this is a real diamond."

"Wow!" The twins are impressed.

"Could there be more gems waiting to be dug up?" Nanami asks.

"Well, there's a gem mine in a cave off of Sunrise Trail..." the ranger replies before going back to her work. "You two can probably walk the trail by yourselves, but don't go in the cave where the mine is without a grown-up, okay?"

"Okay! Thank you!" Izumi smiles, and the twins start down the trail.

Meanwhile, Aiden waits patiently for the twins' return, but Homura is pacing the grass. "Where could they be?"

"I told them to come back from the playground when we were ready to eat...." Aiden sighs and gets up from the grass. "Maybe we should go look for them..."

Back with the twins, they are making their way down the trail after getting a look at the gem mine, but as they continue, the surroundings get less and less familiar. "You sure we're going the right way?" Izumi worries.

"Sure, I'm sure." Nanami replies.

"I don't know..." Izumi glance around the heavy vegetation. "What if we're lost?"

[CM break]

"How much further do we have to go?" Izumi complains as she and Nanami climb over a log. "I'm sure nii-san's worried about us."

"I can see the playground in the distance, so we must be getting close." Nanami assures her sister.

Just then, a rustling and growling alerts Izumi that something is close by. When she turns to see what it is, she screams.

"Run!" With that, Izumi and Nanami race off down the trail, with a monstrous shadow in hot pursuit.

Homura and Yuki arrive with Aiden just as the twins scream. "They're over in that clearing!" Aiden calls, where the twins are cornered by a humanoid Urusainaa made of diamonds and crystals.

"Come on! Homura leads Yuki over to a nearby bush. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass and challenges the jewel-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Hello there, PreCure..." Lautia sneers as she appears by the Urusainaa, who has the twins cornered. "You already know what I want, so you can gladly hand over the Rainbow Notes or the diamond in return for the girls' lives...."

"Never!" Glacier snarls.

"These little girls are special to Aiden, and we won't let you hurt them!" Ember agrees.

"We found this diamond, and we're not going to let you have it, you meanie!" Nanami snaps. The Urusainaa reaches to grab the diamond, but Ember counters by delivering a flaming punch, knocking the diamond from Nanami's hands.

"Oh no, the diamond!" Nanami gasps as Aiden leads her and Izumi away from the raging battle.

"The diamond can wait until we scare the monster away." Aiden assures Nanami.

Meanwhile, PreCure continues attacking the Urusainaa in various locations, dodging streams of what appears to be liquid diamonds all the while. Eventually, a kick from Glacier makes a crack in the Urusainaa's body.

"I didn't know diamonds could break-kori..." Kouri is impressed.

"Aren't diamonds the hardest substance known on the Green Plains-hino?" Hinote wonders.

"That may be true, but maybe our attacks wore the Urusainaa down!" Glacier punctuates her statement with a hard kick, sending the Urusainaa flying against a tree.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a diamond and healing what damage was caused.

Aiden runs to hug the twins. "Thank heavens you're safe..."

"But why did that monster want to eat Homura-san and Yuki-san?" Izumi asks.

"Forget about the monster, at least we got the diamond back!" Nanami smiles as she shows her sister the diamond.

"Can we keep it, nii-san?" Izumi asks.

"Sure--you guys can make a necklace out of it when we get home tonight." Aiden replies. "For now, let's get back to our picnic."

We see some scenes of the group eating as Homura narrates via voiceover. "Despite the twins' adventure, we had a fantastic day in the park--who knew there was a stash of hidden treasure buried under it?" We see one last shot of the diamond by Izumi as the scene fades out to end the episode.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "Hikari's Christmas wish! The gift from the Black Realm!"]


	32. Episode 32

We join Homura as she strolls in the mall savoring the twinkling lights, wreaths, and Christmas balls around her. "Christmas is only three weeks away, and I'm here to take care of the shopping for my family and Yuki." Homura explains via voiceover.

Just then, Hinote appears. "Br...it's so cold-hino...but what are all these lights doing here?"

"In three weeks, we're going to be celebrating a festival." Homura explains, figuring that Hinote wouldn't understand the spiritual meaning behind Christmas. "As part of the festival, we give presents to one another."

"Presents? Sounds fun!" Hinote is excited. "May I help by choosing a gift for Kouri-hino?"

"Sure..." Homura stammers. "Although, I don't know what Kouri would like..."

Meanwhile, Lautia admires one of the many Christmas trees. _So a festival is coming up on the Green Plains--I'll be glad to sap away the merriment and good cheer!_

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

"Interesting festival..." Bruyant muses as Lautia shows him and Ruida some Christmas scenes from all around the world.

"What's the point of this festival?" Ruida asks.

"The beings on the Green Plains refer to this festival as 'Christmas'" Lautia explains. "It is a time of sparkling lights and gift giving."

"Fascinating..." Yende agrees as he watches scenes of Christmas trees flash by.

"The most natural symbol of this celebration is a tree, which is usually decorated with lights, decorations, and topped with a large ornament, usually a star or a heavenly being." Lautia adds. "I plan to use one such tree to end the merrymaking once and for all!"

[Episode title: "Hikari's Christmas wish! The gift from the Black Realm!"]

"Nee-san! I got a part in the school's Christmas play!" Hikari exclaims as she dashes in the house.

"Oh? What's it about?" Homura asks as she unloads her Christmas presents from before.

"It's a musical called 'The Christmas Doll'." Hikari explains. "It's about this doll that never seems to get played with, and so on Christmas Eve, she makes a wish for someone to play with her, and a star spirit comes and tells the other toys to help this doll find a home--and after a number of crazy adventures, the doll finally finds a home where she is loved and played with."

"How sweet-hino..." Hinote smiles as he wraps a present for Kouri. "And what part do you play?"

"I play the star spirit--which means I get to sing a song with the doll." Hikari explains.

Homura sighs. "Please don't make me sing..."

Later, Homura swallows hard as she settles before the piano. 'Okay--sing the doll's part for me..." Hikari requests.

Homura plays a shaky introduction before singing as best she can _Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish, I wish tonight..._

Hinote covers his ears. "Now I remember why you don't sing-hino..."

Hikari sweatdrops. "Let's rehearse the songs later, okay?"

"Good--at least helping you learn your lines won't sound as bad." Homura assures her sister--at least before balking at the amount of lines Hikari has to say. "YOU HAVE TO LEARN ALL THIS IN A WEEK????"

[CM break]

We fade to the elementary school auditorium a week later, where parents and friends are taking their seats. "Hikari nervous at all?" Aiden asks.

"Not at all--she feels she knows her lines and her songs fairly well." Homura assures Aiden as she takes her seat.

Before Yuki can get settled, a Christmas tree-like being with two red lights for eyes, branches for arms, legs fashioned out of a tree stand, and a large mouth rampages through a section of empty seats! "Oh no!"

"Please, not now..." Aiden pleads before regaining his composure. "Cures, head backstage and deal with the creep, I'll evacuate the audience and tell them to remain calm."

"Got it!" Homura and Yuki follow Aiden outside until they reach the fork leading to the stage door, hurry backstage, and find an empty dressing room. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the stage and challenges the tree-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"This whole 'peace on earth, good will to all' thing is so overrated..." Lautia sneers as she warps onstage. "I have a much better gift..."

"Like what?" Glacier is skeptical.

"A way to force you to give me the Rainbow Notes, and allow me to fill this world with shadows, noise, and despair!" Lautia replies.

"How dare you try and get rid of the hope, love and joy of this special season?" Ember retorts.

"Christmas is supposed to be a season of love and hope, and I won't let you take that away from us!" Glacier agrees as she delivers an icy kick to the tree-Urusainaa, making it rear back in pain. The tree Urusainaa retaliates by firing pine needles at PreCure--while Ember manages to get away, Glacier is pinned to the wall.

"I'll save you!" Ember rushes at the helpless Glacier with a flaming fist.

"Oh, but remember my present's needles are enchanted, so if you burn them, your partner will be burned too...." Lautia cautions as she warps away. The Urusainaa roars and sends more needles at Ember, but she again jumps out of the way.

"Aiden! Try singing a festival song-eiko!" Eika suggests as Aiden rushes onstage to try and help Ember.

"Any particular Christmas song?" Aiden asks as he tries to pull out a needle, but rears back from the resulting jolt of pain.

"Oh no, any Christmas song will do-eiko." Eika replies.

Aiden clears his throat and begins _Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way..._ The song is enough to break Glacier free from the needles with the needles. The shocked Urusainaa tries again to pin both Cures to the wall...

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball over Aiden's singing. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a Christmas tree and healing what damage was caused.

Glacier smiles. "At least all of this happened before the show started..."

"Now Hikari's Christmas play won't be ruined after all." Ember agrees.

We fade to the auditorium some minutes later, where the curtain rises on a set of Santa's workshop. Happy music begins as a number of children playing elves dance onstage and sing "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow".

"Which one is Hikari?" Aiden asks, looking for Hikari in the crowd of dancing elves.

"Oh, Hikari's not playing an elf...she's playing the star spirit that guides the lonely doll to someone that will play with her." Homura explains as a male teacher playing Santa enters. "She gets to sing a solo."

In the audience, Hinote is unconcerned with Santa's dillema and the attempts of the other toys to cheer the lonely doll up. "Kouri?"

"What is it, Hinote?" Kouri asks.

"I wanted to give you a Christmas present too-hino..." Hinote offers Kouri a gift wrapped in blue and gold star print paper.

Kouri carefully and quickly opens the present, every so often peeking at the stage, and smiles at the figurine of two girls decorating a Christmas tree under the wrapping. "It's beautiful! Thank you-kori! I'm still thinking about what to give you-kori."

"Whatever it is, it's the thought that counts." Yuki reminds Kouri.

Some hopeful music gets the group's attention. "It's Hikari's scene!" Aiden whispers. The others refocus on the stage as Hikari dances onstage in a sparkling gold dress, pale yellow tights, gold shoes, and long gold ribbons in her hair as the actress sings playing the doll sings _Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish, I wish tonight..._

_A world of wishes, a world where dreams come true!_ Hikari responds. _So make a wish, and see it through; make a wish, and do as dreamers do...and all your wishes will come true..._

"Hikari's number in the Christmas play rung especially true for our mission as PreCure." Homura narrates via voiceover as the song continues. "My wish is for all the world to hear the Eight Melodies of the Rainbow Notes!" As we zoom out of the auditorium and look up at the night sky, we see an indigo and purple aurora sing _Sing a melody of love, oh love..._ as sleigh bells ring in the distance.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice]

[NEXT WEEK: "Premiere panic! Yuki and the film festival!"]


	33. Episode 33

We join Homura as she strolls down the hallway of the eighth grade wing, on her way to the main office to drop off the roll for her first period class. As she rounds a corner, a poster catches her attention. _Teishoku Film Festival signups?_

Homura's DS shakes and Hinote appears. "Interesting event-hino..."

"Well, anyone that wants to make a movie signs up in the main screening room, and then they have three weeks to make their movie." Homura explains. "Both animated stuff and live stuff are welcome, and it has to be acceptable for school."

"How are they judged-hino?" Hinote asks.

"Well, first a panel of judges reviews all the submissions and pick the ten best ones--five each for animated and live films." Homura explains. "Then they show these ten films to the school, and everyone votes on them. The judges then choose the best two based on the school votes and their opinions on the ten semifinalists--the animated film and the live film with the highest combined score win a prize. Prizes are also given for Most Creative, Funniest Film, and others."

"Sounds exciting!" Hinote notes as Homura passes the art wing, where a line is forming in the main screening room. Yuki is one of the first students in the line.

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

In the Black Realm, Yende is showing Bruyant and Ruida the scene of the screening room. "The beings on the Green Plains have many forms of entertainment--the type seen in rooms like this involves pictures that appear to move."

"Fascinating..." Ruida smiles as she watches the clips of various animated and live movies and the scene of the screening room.

"Let's see Lautia try to find something natural having to do with movies." Bruyant agrees before a spasm of pain sends him falling to the bed again.

"Oh, I'll find something natural, all right..." Lautia retorts as Yende hurries to tend to Bruyant's wounds. "Just you wait and see!"

[Episode title: "Premiere panic! Yuki and the film festival!"]

Later that day, Homura catches up to Yuki as the two depart campus. "So what's your movie going to be about?" Homura asks.

"Since my father often uses folk and fairy tales as motifs in his movies, I thought I would attempt an animated film based on a folktale." Yuki replies as she shows Homura a book titled "Favorite Folk Tales of the World".

Homura thumbs through the book for a moment. "What about this Anansi story about a magic rock?"

Yuki takes the book from Homura and smiles at the page Homura has pointed out. "That's a great idea, Homura! Only, since spiders are so hard for me to draw, I'll make the main character a simpler creature."

"I'll see if I can get Aiden to help, too--he could draw the storyboards and I'd write the script..." Homura adds.

"Yuki's making a flick for the film festival? I'd be happy to draw storyboards." Aiden adds as he joins the girls.

Yuki's DS shakes and Kouri appears. "What's going on here-kori?"

"Every year, the school holds a movie festival." Aiden explains. "The best ones get a nice prize."

"Prizes?" How exciting!" Kouri smiles.

Homura's DS shakes and Hinote appears. "A contest? Where do I sign up-hino?"

"Sorry, but horsies are not eligible." Aiden laughs, making Hinote sweatdrop as everyone laughs.

We join the group at the Hanshou house some minutes later, where Homura is typing a script and Aiden is observing Yuki draw some character ideas. "A mouse really wouldn't work..." Aiden muses.

"An elephant is too big..." Homura agrees, gesturing to a rejected drawing of an elephant.

"We could still use an elephant as a character, just not the main one." Aiden assures Homura.

"What about a cat that lives in the jungle?" Yuki muses.

"A cat is perfect...besides, you have a model right here." Aiden smiles as Ran trots into the room.

"Mew..." Ran comments before running after a piece of string.

[CM break]

In the Hanshou yard, Yuki sketches some ideas for her movie as Homura and Aiden discuss storyboards for the script. Ran is close by, chasing the butterflies.

"Nice drawing of the main character." Homura smiles as she sees what Yuki is drawing--a cartoon leopard cub that looks vaguely like Ran leading a cartoon monkey to a nut.

"I was going to make the main character a mouse, but after Aiden gave Ran a nut to play with, I decided a cat would be cuter--and since our story is set in the jungle, I made it a baby leopard." Yuki explains as she continues to draw. Ran is nearby, romping in the grass.

"Speaking of nuts, where did that walnut I gave Ran get to?" Aiden wonders. His question is answered seconds later when the walnut--only now with eerie yellow eyes, spindly arms and legs, and a large mouth crashes through the brush.

"Come on!" Homura motions for Yuki to follow her behind a bush. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass and challenges the nut-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Oh, I didn't mean to intrude..." Lautia smirks as she warps into view. "I merely wanted to borrow your Rainbow Notes for a while..."

"Never!" Glacier growls. Lautia just sighs and warps away.

"HAH!!!" Ember tries to kick the Urusainaa, but the impact barely leaves a scratch. Glacier also tries to attack, but her icy punch doesn't appear to do much damage.

"Walnuts are one of the hardest nuts to crack..." Aiden notes.

"No wonder you use those little soldier figures to crack them-eiko..." Eika notes before veering out of the Urusainaa's way.

"We could use one of those right now!" Ember groans as she tries again to attack.

After an hour or so, PreCure is beginning to tire. "We could use some help here..." Emer wheezes as she tries to charge a punch, but the flames fizzle out.

"Mystic Chill!" Kouri swoops in before the Urusainaa, freezing it before it can grab PreCure.

"Quickly! Before the ice melts!" Aiden calls.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a walnut and healing what damage was caused.

Glacier finds her drawings nearby the walnut some minutes later. "Let's get back to work."

"At least the battle with the Urusainaa wasn't recorded." Ember is relieved.

We fade to the main screening room some weeks later, where a crowd has gathered to see which animated and live films will take home prizes. "The award for Most Creative Film in the animated division goes to Yuki Hanshou." the head judge announces. The crowd cheers as Yuki comes onstage to receive a trophy.

Homura's cheering is especially enthusiastic. "All in all, working on 'The Secret of the Nut' was a wonderful experience, even if we had to chase off the Black Realm--I'm in the mood to make the sequel already!" she narrates as the lights go down and the opening credits of Yuki's movie begin to roll.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "Rainy day blues! Eika and the hidden treasure!"]


	34. Episode 34

Thunder rolls as Homura looks outside at the pouring rain. "We were going to go to the skate park today, but it just had to rain!" she complains via voiceover. "Now I'm not sure what we'll do..."

The doorbell rings, snapping Homura from her thoughts. "I wonder who that could be?" she muses as she gets up.

Aiden and Yuki wait for her on the front stoop. "Surprise." Yuki smiles.

"Kouri!" Hinote is just as happy to see Kouri.

Eika, meanwhile, sees the entry pull into the attic hanging down from the ceiling. "Where does that go-eiko?"

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

Homura notes Eika studying the entry pull. "What is it, Eika?"

"I was just curious as to where this door went-eiko." Eika explains.

"Oh, that goes into the attic." Homura explains. "It's where we keep old items that are special to us as a family."

"Like treasure?" Eika is excited.

"Well..." Homura thinks for a moment. "I suppose you can put it that way..."

"Can we go up there and see your treasures-kori?" Even Kouri is excited.

Homura remembers her old photo albums and smiles. "I don't see why we can't..."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!" the pegasi cheer.

[Episode title: "Rainy day blues! Eika and the hidden treasure!]

"Okay, I have bug spray just in case we find any creepy crawlies in here..." Aiden reports as Homura carefully opens the entry pull from the top of a ladder.

"I wonder what all you have in your attic..." Yuki muses.

"Watch your heads, everyone..." Homura cautions as she watches Yuki and Aiden carefully climb up the frail ladder-like stairwell. Once the pegasi fly inside, she closes up the attic entryway and flicks on a flashlight. "Now to remember which of these boxes has my old photo albums..."

Eika, meanwhile, finds an old carousel music box, carefully winds it up, and listens as the carousel slowly spins in time to the Carousel Waltz.

"How pretty-kori!" Kori smiles.

"Dad bought that music box for Mom for her birthday years ago--they met by an old carousel, so Dad felt that was a sweet way to remember how they met." Homura explains. "Mom's always liked music boxes, so she keeps her favorite ones up here so they don't get damaged."

"Oh, this one's cute!" Yuki smiles as she unearths another music box of a girl flying a kite.

"What does it play-kori?" Kouri is curious.

"When I was just a baby, Mom would let that one play to lull me to sleep--it plays a lullaby." Homura replies.

Hinote carefully winds up the music box and listens as a calm melody plays. Before long, he, Kouri, and Eika have dozed off.

[CM break]

"Almost there..." Homura assures the others as they climb over old clothes, toys, and boxes.

"This is so cool--I've never seen your old photo albums before..." Aiden notes.

"You have cleaned this place for spiders and other bugs, haven't you?" Yuki asks.

"Yeah, Mom just sprayed for spiders and bugs the other day." Homura assures Yuki. "Why?"

Aiden hears a growl in the distance. "I think your mom may have missed a spider..."

"Huh?" Homura whirls around and notices a large spider-like humanoid looming over them. It roars, making Yuki scream.

"Back, you creep!" Aiden fumbles for the bug spray and sprays some at the odd monster.

"This way!" Homura takes Yuki's hand and leads her to a pile of old clothes. Once sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass and challenges the spider-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Surprised I could find you in here?" Lautia smirks as she warps inside.

"How did you get in here?" Ember demands.

"I have my ways..." Lautia smirks before turning to leave.

Glacier grits her teeth, never mind that she is afraid of the huge spider-like being looming over her and Ember. "If it's the Rainbow Notes you want, we're not giving them to you!" Lautia just sneers and warps away.

Hinote sees Glacier shuddering. "I think Glacier is afraid of this creature-hino..."

"Then I'll protect her from it!" With that, Ember charges at the giant spider, her fist igniting as she runs, but before she can deliver the fiery punch, the Urusainaa spits out some webbing. At first, Ember is able to dodge them easily, but after a few jumps the Urusainaa figures out her movement pattern and encases her in webbing.

"Hah!" Aiden fires some bug spray at the Urusainaa, but the poison mist has no effect.

"I don't think that spray will work..." Eika stammers. She shields her eyes as Aiden is also tangled up in webbing.

Kouri senses Glacier's fear. "I know you don't like these creatures-kori, but if you want to free your friends..."

Glacier nods. "Then I must face my fear!" She musters what courage she can, runs to the Urusainaa, jumps, and delivers an icy kick in its face, dissolving the webbing binding Ember and Aiden.

"Feels good to be out of there!" Aiden smiles.

"Now, PreCure!" Hinote calls.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal spider and healing what damage was caused.

"Good riddance..." Homura sighs as the spider scuttles away.

"I hate spiders..." Yuki shudders.

"Never mind that, look what I found-eiko!" eika calls as she uncovers an old wooden chest...

TO BE CONTINUED...

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "Homura's nostalgia! The picture of a past memory!"]


	35. Episode 35

We see the series logo as Eika says in voiceover "Previously, on 'Futari wa PreCure Flash Fire....

_Hinote sees Glacier shuddering. "I think Glacier is afraid of this creature-hino..."_

"Then I'll protect her from it!" With that, Ember charges at the giant spider, her fist igniting as she runs, but before she can deliver the fiery punch, the Urusainaa spits out some webbing. At first, Ember is able to dodge them easily, but after a few jumps the Urusainaa figures out her movement pattern and encases her in webbing.

"Hah!" Aiden fires some bug spray at the Urusainaa, but the poison mist has no effect.

"I don't think that spray will work..." Eika stammers. She shields her eyes as Aiden is also tangled up in webbing.

Kouri senses Glacier's fear. "I know you don't like these creatures-kori, but if you want to free your friends..."

Glacier nods. "Then I must face my fear!" She musters what courage she can, runs to the Urusainaa, jumps, and delivers an icy kick in its face, dissolving the webbing binding Ember and Aiden.

"Feels good to be out of there!" Aiden smiles.

"Now, PreCure!" Hinote calls.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal spider and healing what damage was caused.

"Good riddance..." Homura sighs as the spider scuttles away.

"I hate spiders..." Yuki shudders.

"Never mind that, look what I found-eiko!" Eika calls as she uncovers an old wooden chest...

[DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

Homura carefully climbs over some clutter and finds Eika studying the chest. "Where'd you find that?"

"It was under some old clothes-eiko." Eika replies.

Homura smiles when she sees the chest. "That's it! This is where Mom keeps all our old photos!"

"Well, open it!" Yuki urges.

"I want to see your pictures too." Aiden agrees.

"Okay...." Homura fishes out a navy blue book marked "PHOTOS" from the chest. "Let's start with this one!"

[Episode title: "Homura's nostalgia! The picture of a past memory!"]

"Whoa..." The pegasi are interested in the various pictures of Homura and her family.

"Aw, is this you when Hikari was born-hino?" Hinote asks as he admires a picture of a younger Homura holding a baby.

"Yes--that was taken when I got to hold her for the first time." Homura explains.

"How did you handle a new human in your family-eiko?" Eika is curious. "When we were born, it was a celebration for everyone, culminating in the King and the Queen writing what our parents wished to name us in the royal records." We see a scene of various creatures, real and fantastic, cheering as a pair of dull yellow adult pegasi approach a castle on the Crystal Plains. A griffon guard is at the castle entrance, asking the various creatures that have gathered what their children will be named. A centaur guard is nearby, writing the names down on a long sheet of paper.

"And what will you name your child?" the griffon guard asks the female pegasus as he looks down and admires baby Eika, who is dozing while carefully wrapped in her mother's wings.

"We wish to name her Eika." the female pegasus replies.

"A fitting choice--may she cherish her name for all time." the griffon guard replies as the centaur guard writes the name on the scroll before returning to the present again.

"Well, human births are not that special--some families to make a big deal out of it, though." Aiden replies.

"Well, I remember Mom and Dad explaining what would change when Hikari came home, and what I needed to do as the big sister." Homura replies. "I was a little afraid, so Dad read me stories about kids my age dealing with new siblings so I knew a little about what to expect. They also took me out for excursions so I was reminded they still loved me too." She turns a few pages in the album, where a younger Hikari embraces a younger Homura. "This was taken on Hikari's first day of preschool--by this time, we had grown pretty close, and she didn't want to leave me."

We swirl into another flashback as Mrs. Boukeno watches as young Homura and young Hikari walk to the entrance of a kindergarten. "You sure you can handle being without me and Mama for a little while?" young Homura asks.

"Yeah...but I'm scared that no one will like me, nee-san." young Hikari hesitantly replies,

"Just be nice to someone, and people will be nice back." young Homura replies. "Besides, Mama and me will be here at noon."

"When's noon?" young Hikari asks.

"When the big hand and the little hand are at the top of the clock together." young Homura explains.

A confident smile forms on young Hikari's face. "That isn't too far away! I can handle being by myself for a while!"

"Let me send some of my love with you in case you get lonely..." With that, both sisters embrace before we return to the present again.

"So even when you were young, you were very close to Hikari-hino..." Hinote notes.

"While yeah, we do fight on occassion, we love each other too much to stay mad for a long time." Homura replies. "I'd be devastated if something happened to her!"

[CM break]

Later, the group watches as Homura shows a picture of young Homura in a forest. "Here we are just before a hike on a campout--not knowing I would get lost on the way." Homura explains as we swirl into another flashback.

"Now, stay close to me, okay?" Mr. Boukeno assures young Homura as he bends a twig into a trail marker. "If you do get lost, follow these." With that, the family departs. While they are making good time at first, Homura follows a rabbit into a bushier part of the forest, seperating her from her parents and the main trail. She glances around the unfamiliar surroundings in fear.

"Were you scared?" Aiden asks via voiceover.

"A little, but after I found one of Dad's trail markers, I was able to find them easily." Young Homura suddenly spots a twig bent into a trail marker, and eagerly follows them back to the main trail, where she is joyfully reunited with her parents.

"No wonder you're so good at hiking!" Yuki is impressed. "I can remember going with my father on one of his many trips to America before, and getting stranded in the airport..."

"What happened?" Homura asks as the scene swirls into a flashback of Mr. Hanshou and young Yuki passing through customs.

"We had just arrived in one of the Midwest cities, on the way to Hollywood, California--where movies are made." Yuki explains via voiceover. "I had said that I wanted to go with him, but Mom felt it was too far away for me to travel at a young age. But when Dad told her that it was a children's film festival he was traveling to--and the director's families were welcome, she relented."

"What part of the Midwest?" Aiden asks via voiceover. "Detroit? Chicago? Minneapolis?"

"I don't quite remember anymore, but it was in that area." Yuki replies. "It was winter at the time, and that area gets very cold and snowy." We see young Yuki shivering before Mr. Hanshou gives her a reassuring hug. "We were due to continue on to California that evening, but the snow and ice ended up canceling our flight, and all the hotels were booked with other stranded travelers."

"So you effectively had to sleep in the terminal?" Homura asks as we see young Yuki sprawling out over a few terminal chairs to sleep.

"Yes--it was scary, not knowing if we would make it to the festival in time, or even back to Japan safely." Yuki replies. "Fortunately, the weather let up the next day, and Dad's boss arranged us a new flight to California." We see Mr. Hanshou nudging young Yuki awake the next morning. "Come on, Yuki--we're off to California for real today."

"But how?" young Yuki asks. "The plane couldn't go yesterday..."

"The snow and ice stopped during the night, so the planes can go today." Mr. Hanshou replies. "Plus, the boss was nice enough to get us a new flight."

"Yay!" young Yuki cheers. "Now I can see if your movies win any prizes after all!" She hurries to catch up with Mr. Hanshou as we return to the present.

"Needless to say, we took a different route back to Japan to avoid snow and ice." Yuki concludes.

"So if I ever travel to America, when's the best time to go?" Homura asks Aiden.

"Depends on where in America you're going." Aiden replies. "While I do miss all the friends I know back there, I have all my friends here in Japan too. It was hard to adjust to a new country and new culture at first, especially when it was so different from what you knew." We see a flashback of young Aiden trying to read some katakana on a store sign. "And every time I did see reminders of America, I got homesick." We see young Aiden sniffle and hold back tears at a flag shop with an American flag in its window alongside a Japanese flag. "But not long after Izumi and Nanami came along, I decided to teach them about the culture I once knew--and where I'd like to take them one day." We see Aiden explaining Independence Day to the twins, complete with pictures of parades and fireworks, before we return to the present.

"It's fascinating how your past experiences can shape who you are-kori." Kouri smiles as Homura puts away the albums.

"And how there's even more memories left to come!" Homura replies, making everyone laugh in agreement.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "A graceful debut! The dancing Rainbow Note!"]


	36. Episode 36

We join Yuki in a dance studio on campus, twirling and swaying to a vaguely Celtic melody. Kaede is nearby, watching Yuki's performance. "That was wonderful!" she comments as she applauds. "You'll do well with the orchestra for sure!"

"Thank you, Kae-sempai--I can't wait to dance with the orchestra either." Yuki replies.

"Come to think of it, you're one of the first dancers that has performed in a long time." Kaede muses as Yuki gathers her things. "Is that making you nervous at all?"

"No--all I want is to give a good performance to the audience, distinction or not." Yuki replies.

"A fitting answer." Kaede smiles as the two girls depart. Neither of them notice the small orange glow that appears from behind a mirror as a female voice sings _Simple as can be..._

[DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

We join Homura at her locker the next day, gathering her books for class. But before she can start towards classroom 8C, Aiden arrives at his locker. "Hey, Homura! Did you hear about the Festival of Dance that's coming up in a few days?"

"What about it?" Homura asks, interested.

"Rumor is Yuki's participating, and I thought you'd like to come lend her support." Aiden replies."

"What kind of a dance is she going to do?" Homura asks, picturing Yuki doing a variety of dances, including a tap dance, a waltz, and an Irish jig.

"You'll have to ask her--if you want to pay her a visit in the art wing after math class, you can ask." Aiden replies before heading off to another classroom.

_I think I will..._ Homura smiles as she finishes gathering her books and closes up her locker. As she passes by the art wing on the way to classroom 8C, we hear a very faint female voice from one of the dance practice rooms singing _Simple as can be..._

[Episode title: "A graceful debut! The dancing Rainbow Note!"]

"Wow..." Homura gasps in awe over one of the dance studios in the art wing and the various mats and mirrors inside.

Homura's DS shakes and Hinote appears. "It's beautiful-hino!"

"I'm glad you think so." Yuki replies as she stretches for a few moments. "In a week or two, I'm going to dance before the school for the first time."

"Really?" Homura is piqued. "As much as I dream about being up on stage dancing...well..."

"She has two left feet-hino." Hinote giggles.

"Look who's talking!" Homura snaps.

"Hey!" Yuki's DS shakes and Kouri appears to quell the impending fight. "While it is true we have two left feet-kori, we are quite capable dancers."

"And I'm not?" Homura grumbles.

"If you've never danced before, I'd be happy to let you try." Yuki assures Homura. "What kind of music would you like to dance to?" she asks as she thumbs through a box of CDs.

"Hm..." Homura thinks for a moment. "Something with a groove, but not too fast."

"I think I know just the thing..." With that, Yuki places a CD into a CD player and presses PLAY.

Homura listens to the jazzy melody for a while before improvising a few hesitant jumps and steps around the room, her mind racing with what she could bump into or break.

"It's even more fun when you do it with a partner." Aiden tells Homura as he motions for Yuki to start the music over. "I'll help you with when to lead and when to follow, okay?" he assures Homura. Yuki just selects the next song on the CD: "In the Mood"

At first, Homura's steps are jerky with fear, but with Aiden's help, they become more confident. Before long, Aiden and Homura are spinning and swirling about the room to the jazzy groove as if they were naturals.

"Bravo-hino!" Hinote applauds at the song's conclusion.

"Encore-kori!" Kouri's applause is just as enthusiastic.

"I don't know about an encore, I'm a little dizzy..." Homura groans, her head still spinning from the dance.

"Now, see? You have a little bit of a dancer in you after all." Aiden assures Homura.

Aiden's DS shakes and Eika appears. "Homura can dance-eiko? This I have to see!"

"Again?" Aiden offers Homura his hand as Yuki resets the CD player.

"I guess..." Homura shyly giggles. "That was kinda fun." With that, the two of them go spinning and grooving through "In the Mood" once again.

[CM break]

A few weeks later, Yuki is in a dressing room, preparing for the dance festival to begin. _I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure I'll do fine..._

"Yuki?" Yuki steps out of the dressing room in a sparkly blue and silver outfit and whirls around to find Homura standing in the doorway. "Nervous at all?"

"A little..." Yuki stammers.

"We came to wish you good luck-kori." Kouri smiles as she flies into Yuki's arms.

"Thank you..." Yuki and Kouri snuggle for a little while before crashes and screaming in the wings get her attention. "What's going on?"

"Don't tell me..." Homura grumbles as she peeks out onto the stage where one of the palm trees--now with sickly yellow eyes, vine-like arms, and its trunk split in two to form legs--is wreaking havoc with the set.

Kaede is just as panicked. "Oh my!" How are we going to protect the instruments from something this hideous?"

"Don't worry, Kae-sempai, Hanshou-san and I will scare it away!" Homura assures Kaede as she runs back into the wings.

"Creep crashing the wings at five o'clock!" Aiden reports to Homura as he too dashes into the wings to avoid set pieces and wires. Yuki meets with Homura some minutes later, and all three dash into a section of dressing rooms seconds before the section Yuki was getting ready in is trashed by the Urusainaa.

"Why did the Black Realm pick now to send an Urusainaa?" Homura grumbles.

"Look, over that way!" Aiden points out an orange glow in one dressing room as a female voice sings _Simple as can be..._

"A Rainbow Note!" Yuki gasps.

"We'll think of a way to get it away from here once we deal with the creep." Aiden assures Yuki as he closes the door behind Homura. "I'll wait for you two to change."

Once Homura is sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the stage and challenges the palm leaf-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"So this is the stage..." Lautia muses as she warps into view. "Odd that anything natural would be here..."

"Today was supposed to be a day of celebration of nature...and I will not stand for someone ruining my debut!" Glacier snaps back.

"So you were supposed to perform in this place?" Lautia giggles. "I suppose I'll let you do a little two-step with Urusainaa--entertain me!" With that, she warps away, prompting the Urusainaa to begin firing vines at PreCure. PreCure, meanwhile, frantically jumps away at every vine's appearing, until they are cornered in the wings at stage left by a patchwork of criss-crossing vines.

"Boy, when the creep-maker said she wanted to do a two step, she wasn't kidding!" Aiden gasps at the network of vines on one half of the stage.

"You think I can flip over all of those vines?" Ember whispers to Hinote.

"I don't know-hino...many of the gaps between vines look too small for a human to fit." Hinote notes.

"I'll fix that--Star Beam!" Eika fires a beam of rainbow stars at the mass of vines, snapping many of them and creating openings large enough for a person to fit between them. "Try now-eiko!"

"Here goes..." Ember quickly backflps through the vines, using the holes as guidelines. She then delivers a flaming kick to the Urusainaa. Glacier follows her partner soon after, landing an icy punch on the Urusainaa's face.

"The Rainbow Note! Protect the Rainbow Note-hino!" Hinote panics.

"Got it!" Aiden finds the orange Note behind another set piece.

"Mystic Chill!" Kouri helps by freezing the Urusainaa to a wall.

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal palm leaf and healing what damage was caused.

Homura picks up the palm leaf and reattaches it to a prop tree. "I think this belongs right here."

Yuki, meanwhile, summons the Score of Colors for Hinote. "I'm so excited only two Rainbow Notes are left-hino!" he smiles as the orange note flies into the top right space on the left page.

"Me neither, I can't wait to see what Lyrical Flash does." Yuki agrees.

"Well, what we can tell you is that it is an upgrade of Melodic Fever-kori." Kouri replies.

"Not to mention it is the only thing that can damage Lady Dischord-eiko." Eika adds. The Rainbow Notes singing _Take a melody..._ _Simple as can be..._ _Give it some words, and..._ _Raise your voices!_ _Sing a melody of..._ _Love, oh love_ as the Score of Colors closes punctuates her point.

"We'll find out soon enough...and besides, don't you have a debut to attend to?" Homura smiles. Yuki giggles in embarrassment over this.

We cut to the auditorium, where Kaede emerges and takes a bow for the audience as the orchestra finishes tuning. "Yuki made a wonderful debut..." Homura explains via voiceover as Yuki walks onstage and bows to the audience before striking a pose. "I think our battle made her even more determined to make sure that 'the show must go on'....and our show for the Rainbow Notes is definitely going on." Kaede then signals the orchestra, and they begin to play a waltz-like arrangement of the Eight Melodies, which Yuki swirls and sways to. "With two Notes to go, I can sense victory!" The scene of Yuki dancing becomes a manga-esque drawing to end the episode.

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "The all-important grade! PreCure's marathon study session!"]


	37. Episode 37

We join Homura in a math classroom, listening as the teacher describes an upcoming exam. "We're so close to completing the song of the Rainbow Notes! Yuki found one during the Dance Festival a few days ago..." she explains via voiceover as we see a flashback from the previous episode.

"Pay attention!" The teacher suddenly jolts us back to the present. Homura sighs and listens as the teacher drones on about equations with two variables. "So I'm here in math class, and who am I to worry that the Black Realm will crash the exam again? Furthermore, I've been struggling with the material too."

[OP: DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)]

In the Black Realm, Lady Dischord admires the scene of Homura trying to pay attention. "Interesting...the beings on the Green Plains must pride themselves on intelligence..."

"Indeed they do, my lady." Yende replies. "They spend hours upon hours learning all that they can about their world--for they believe intelligence is the most important facet a being can have." He shows a scene of a boy taking an exam to illustrate his next point. "When the guardians of wisdom want to see how much their students have learned, they give them an exam over it."

"Try finding something natural about studying for a test, Lautia!" Bruyant snaps from his bed.

"I'm not worried about the exam..." Lautia assures Bruyant as she studies the image of Homura, Aiden, and Yuki walking.

"You're not?" Even Ruida is surprised.

"I have a better idea--turning the weather of the Green Plains to my advantage!" Lautia confidently replies

[Episode title: "The all important grade! PreCure's marathon study session!"]

"Thanks for coming to help study, guys." Homura smiles as she, Yuki, and Aiden arrive at her house.

"Not a problem." Aiden replies. "We can go outside when we finish, provided it doesn't rain."

"Mom, why does Homura get to have friends over?" Hikari whines.

"Your sister has an important test to study for, and she feels having her friends to help will help her learn the material." Mrs. Boukeno replies. "So play quietly so she can work, okay?"

"Okay..." Hikari sighs.

In Homura's room, Hinote balks at the numbers, symbols, and letters on one page of Homura's math book. "Goodness! I didn't know numbers like this even existed-hino!"

Yuki, meanwhile, is walking Homura through solving an equation with two variables. "To start, you need to combine like terms, so 3z and 2z become 5z..."

"How can z's like each other?" Hinote is confused.

Yuki's and Aiden's DSes shake and Kouri and Eika appear. "Cancel out the letters-kori!" she suggests.

"What do letters have to do with math?" Eika is equally confused.

Homura keeps erasing and rewriting and erasing and rewriting with the pegasi's suggestions until there is a big black smudge on her paper. She growls and snaps at Hinote "You're not helping very much, you know?"

"I was only trying to help-hino!" Hinote protests.

"Hey!" Eika dissapates the oncoming fight. "This is Homura's homework, so she should figure it out herself." she tells Hinote.

"As I was saying..." Yuki sighs before giving Homura more paper. "Start by combining like terms, so the 3z and 2z become 5z."

"The sooner we finish studying, the sooner we can play outside." Aiden assures Homura before the rumble of thunder outside gets his attention.

"You were saying?" Homura sighs as rain begins pelting the window.

[CM break]

After a while, Homura is still not making any progress on another equation. "We'll never get finished at this rate!"

"You said it." Aiden agrees. "We've been at this for what, four hours?"

"Actually, we've been studying for two." Yuki replies. "But if you two need a break..."

This is as far as Yuki gets before the wind begins picking up outside. "Must be some storm outside...." Aiden gasps.

"But how many storms do you know are caused by a monster raindrop-eiko?" Eika asks, gesturing to a humanoid raindrop that is rampaging down the street from the window.

"It can't be!" Homura gasps. She sets aside her books and paper. "Come on!"

"What's happening?" Hikari peeks from her room, concerned.

"Aiden, distract Hikari for a minute, please..." Homura calls as she and Yuki dash into a hallway closet.

"Gotcha!" Aiden replies.

Once Homura is sure she and Yuki are not being followed, they jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.

Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.

As the cocoon clears, Homura steps onto the grass and challenges the raindrop-Urusainaa. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"

"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.

"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.

"Aura Shield!" Eika calls, surrounding PreCure in a yellow glow as the Urusainaa unleashes a wave onto them.

"Good thinking, Eika--Ember has a weakness to water, and I don't know if Glacier will be able to help either." Aiden notes as Ember scrambles away from a wave of water.

"Glacier's defeated water Uusainaas before-kori..." Kouri notes as Ember tries to kick at the Urusainaa, only to be whacked away.

"That's right-hino! A kick or punch from Glacier usually freezes water into ice!" Hinote notes, the hiss of Ember's attack meeting water punctuating his point.

"Ember may not be a total loss..." Eika interjects.

"Huh?" Aiden, Hinote and Kouri glance at Eika, confused.

"We'll use her as a distraction, while Glacier attacks it and freezes it from behind-eiko." Eika explains. "The attack will then freeze the Urusainaa completely, which PreCure can then shatter with Frosty Fever."

Inspired, Ember sticks out her tongue at the Urusainaa. "Hey, drip-drop! Come and get me!" she taunts.

The Urusainaa begins to chase Ember around the yard, leaving puddle footprints in its wake. After wearing the Urusainaa down some time later, Ember runs behind a bush and whistles to Glacier, who jumps down from a tree branch and kicks the Urusainaa in the head, freezing it completely!

Ember takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."

"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.

"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.

"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.

"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal raindrop and healing what damage was caused.

"You saved my neck--how can I ever repay you?" Ember smiles as both Aura Shields fade away and the skies begin to clear.

"It was nothing!" Glacier replies, taking a moment to savor the sun on her face. "Let's go back inside and finish studying."

The scene fades to the classroom some days later, where the bell rings as the last few students, Homura included, enter and take their seats. "Here are your tests, you may begin." the teacher notes as she hands out the test papers.

Homura starts on a problem as she narrates via voiceover "Despite the Black Realm, we went over all the material, and thanks to Yuki's help, I felt like I could pass the test. But the study session will be even more memorable!" Homura smiles as she checks her answer--the answer she got and the calculator's answer match!

[ED: Ganbalance de Dance ~Melodies of Fire and Ice~]

[NEXT WEEK: "The miracle of life! Protecting the earth's creatures!"]


End file.
